Change The World
by Charlotte Eraviel
Summary: A Goddess has fallen. A new Goddess inaugurated. Everything has changed when Nepgear lost her most important treasure. Will she give up on it and press forward, or still cling to it? And with all of the changes that happened and are currently happening, another thing is for sure: Gamindustri's fate will surely become abysmal. - Continuation of Change.
1. Remembering You

**Hello guys, Eraviel here!**

 **So, if you guys were dropping by my FB page, you'd see my pain. Heh. My laptop is unavailable right now, and I don't have the means to fix it alone, so I sent it back to the vendor. I am afraid that I would lose all of my files there including my fics, so it's really sad on my part. Chapter 6 of Memories is half-finished, and then this happened *sigh***

 **Anyways, this is a new, err, let's just go with new fic, shall we? My apologies again if Memories will be delayed. I have to rewrite and revise the whole 6th chapter again.**

 **Alright, no more dramas of me, onto the story now, enjoy!**

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 _" **If I die, will I be able to see you again?"**_

 **~o~O~o~**

A certain purple-haired girl slowly opened her eyes. There, she met a familiar ceiling, a ceiling that she had been seeing every day, every night, in the past ten years. She found herself leaning on a chair, with a lot of papers on the desk in front of her.

"…"

She must've dozed off for a bit, as far as she was concerned. There was a lot of work presented for her, and that might be the reason why she unintentionally closed her eyes just for a little bit.

She sighed.

Same stuff, different day. She had been doing nothing but work in the past years ever since she got inaugurated as Planeptune's CPU. While she wasn't opposed to the idea, she certainly didn't want to become one.

Because, the title was not fitting her.

She didn't deserve this.

She didn't like it.

She completely hated it.

What an irony, right?

But she had no choice. She had to do it. Because she was the only one who could do it. No other one could.

Except for a certain someone who wasn't with her anymore.

She shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her mind. But she just couldn't. That certain someone was far too important for her to forget. She tried to distract herself by going back to work, but alas, the first move she did was a complete mess up. She accidentally tapped her mug on the desk, and broke it as it fell down on the floor.

"Ah…"

She wasn't in condition to work. Maybe all those years of consistently working was taking a toll on her already.

In a short moment, she heard a sound of a door opening. She turned her attention to the door and saw a floating book with a small girl sitting on top of it, with her blonde-colored hair and purple clothing, going towards her way.

"Nepgear, what happened? I heard a sound of breaking something." The small girl asked as she floated beside Nepgear. From there, she saw a broken mug on the floor, and then had a worried look on her face. "Nepgear, you must've been tired. You should take some rest."

"Histoire…" She then turned back to the broken mug.

Yes, the small girl's name was Histoire. She was created by the former goddess to record history, and she was the oracle of Planeptune.

Histoire took a closer look at the broken mug on the floor, and gasped a little as she realized why Nepgear was so attentive to it. She suddenly felt bad for the girl. That object was very important to her.

"Nepgear, don't worry, I'll fix-"

But Nepgear interrupted her before she could finish what Histoire was about to say. "No, you don't need to. Please, just throw it away." She said as stood up from her chair and left the room.

Histoire just stared at the door. Her worries were growing as days passed by. While it was thanks to Nepgear that Planeptune was booming with shares now, overshadowing their neighboring countries: Lowee, Lastation, and Leanbox, Nepgear's condition was far more concerning.

She floated down and started to clean the pieces of the broken mug. As she did so, tears started to fall from her eyes, without her knowing why.

"…Huh…?" She then wiped her eyes off with tears. But it didn't stop. "Why am I…?"

No, she should've known the reason why. And that was the reason why Nepgear was in such a condition.

She picked up a shard of the broken mug, which was bigger than any shard that she just cleaned. There, she saw something on it.

'Nep', was written on it.

"Neptune…" She mumbled between her sobs. "Why… why did you have to go before I could meet you…?"

She knew what happened. Histoire records history after all, and she was very well aware of what happened to the person named Neptune.

 **~o~O~o~**

Nepgear wandered around the city. The people were greeting her as she passed by them, in which she responded to them with just a wave. As much as she hated her current position, the people of her nation loved her. She did well in every job she faced on, and finished them flawlessly. That was why Planeptune prospered that it overshadowed its competitors.

But, all of it were meaningless if she couldn't bring back the most important person to her.

Her sister. Neptune. The previous CPU of Planeptune.

The citizens didn't know a thing about what happened to their former CPU, only the report that she was missing was known to public. Right now, only Nepgear and Histoire knows what really happened. The people in the Basilicom was definitely not pleased the moment they learned that their goddess was defeated (or so they thought), but Planeptune wouldn't last without a CPU, and so, they consecrated Nepgear as their goddess.

With that, the people's faith gradually turned to Nepgear, until Neptune was completely forgotten by the people. And that was what Nepgear hated the most. She wasn't mad at the people for losing faith to Neptune, but she was mad at herself for appearing like she was stealing her sister's people.

In which, it was technically what happened.

Nepgear ended up in the guild. She had a feeling that she needed to vent out something and doing some quests would be appropriate. She could kill a monster or two to help herself calm down. After accepting an A-Rank quest, she set forth to her target destination: the outskirts of Planeptune. She wasted no time and immediately went to her destination by transforming and flying.

The objective of the quest was to kill two Ancient Dragons in a hidden underground cave around the outskirts. The dragons weren't physically affecting the people at the surface but the quakes and roars they create were not very pleasing to the people. And being an A-Ranked quest, and two dragons nonetheless, no guild members dared to face it as the place was too small to fight them.

But Nepgear couldn't care less. Monsters were monsters, whatever the kind.

Nepgear arrived in the middle of the forest, with a giant hole on the ground. She didn't think twice and jumped down.

 **~o~O~o~**

Inside Planeptune's Basilicom, Histoire just finished cleaning the broken mug in Nepgear's office. She floated down on Nepgear's desk, and took a deep breath.

"..."

At the moment, a sudden useless question entered her mind. So useless that she couldn't do anything about it, yet she couldn't stop thinking about it. The question in question goes like this.

"Have I done the right thing...?"

Yes. That question was indeed useless. What's done is done. There was nothing to be talked about. Yet, she still kept on asking that question to herself.

She was pertaining about day when Histoire suggested that Nepgear should takeover Planeptune as its CPU. While it was the most logical action to do, because Planeptune just lost their CPU at that time, she hadn't even considered Nepgear's feelings. And she just realized it when she saw how much it changed the young CPU as her personality drastically changed.

She failed to understand her. No, it wasn't really like that. Histoire did not even bother to understand her, because all she thought that time was the survival of Planeptune. Even the moment when Nepgear saved her from Arfoire's grasp when she defeated her alone, she failed on understanding her.

And now, she regretted it so much.

"I'm sorry... Nepgear..."

* * *

 **There we go, chapter 1 is done! Just a short prologue. It would be inappropriate for the story's flow if I would continue it further.**

 **IT'S THE SEQUEL OF CHANGE!**

 **YES! The sequel of Change. I'm sorry if I said that it wouldn't continue, but I suddenly got an idea in my head connecting to that fic, so I decided to continue it.**

 **Please drop that reviews of yours! It helps me improve my writing :) In any case, if you have questions, just drop it. I'll answer it as long as it wouldn't spoil anything :)**

 **Until next time, see you guys!**


	2. The Deal

**Hello guys! Eraviel here! Time for chapter 2.**

 **News from my lappy. I could get it by Christmas or so. Sad.**

 **To Draen and Yuhitsu: A question that I will not answer :)but I might do split endings, not really sure though, cuz I did it once and it didn't go nice. But, the true ending? It has been decided. I believe some people here already know what the ending would be cuz I posted it in somewhere-you-know-where. :D**

 **I don't know what's going on, the story's cover image keeps on disappearing. Dayum**

 **Anyways, no more chattings, let's get onto the chapter now! Enjoy~**

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Nepgear got inside the underground cave not too long ago. The place was dark, but not enough to render her vision useless. She levitated around the place as she kept her guard up and looked for her target, but so far, no luck.

She decided to go deeper. She might encounter her targets at the end of the cave. Typical RPG missions where the final bosses were placed at the very last area of the dungeon.

Nepgear unconsciously smiled at that thought. She just remembered something from the times when her sister was still with her. It soothes her yet hurts her at the same time, knowing that she still haven't forgotten her when everyone else did, and knowing that she was no longer with her for the rest of her life.

She bit her lip to stop herself from thinking about it anymore. One slip-up could bring her life to danger.

The air in the area was gradually going thin, but not really affecting her that much. To humans, probably it would. Nepgear had a feeling that she was almost at the deepest part of the cave, and so she was twice as cautious.

"Kyaaaaaaaahhh-!"

That alerted Nepgear.

'A scream? There's someone in here?' She thought. She then made haste to the source of the voice. She found it unusual that there was someone lurking in this dangerous place. Maybe someone from the guild? But no, the guild just reported that nobody had attempted to do this quest for a while now, and it wasn't like them to lie or anything. Besides, they wouldn't gain anything anyway.

As she got closer to her objective, the screams along with a roaring sound echoed around the cave. As she arrived at her destination, she saw a black-haired girl clothed in black, wielding a rifle, desperately evading the attacks of the Ancient Dragon while trying to damage it, but to no avail. The area was too small for the ravenette to battle something that big, and she was also showing signs of fatigue. The girl must've been trying to escape from it for a while now.

Nepgear fired a shot from her weapon towards the Ancient Dragon before charging to it and slamming it to the ground using the same weapon. The black-haired girl was surprised at Nepgear's sudden appearance, and so she fell on her butt. She followed Nepgear's movements with her eyes as the CPU treated the beast like a punching bag, and was entranced by her elegant attacks.

She could just stare at the graceful CPU.

As soon as Nepgear vaporized the Ancient Dragon, she lowered her weapon and sighed in relief. She then directed her attention to the black-haired girl, who was staring at her, and then approached her.

"Are you hurt?" Nepgear asked as she offered her hand.

The black-haired girl wasn't sure what to do, if she should accept it or not. Somehow, this enticing beauty in front of her made her stunned. But doing nothing will do her no good, so she accepted Nepgear's offer and got pulled up back to her feet.

"Yes, I-I'm fine. T-Thank you." She said while stuttering. "You saved my life back there."

Nepgear flashed a smile. She didn't know how she could smile at this situation, but she just did. "I'm glad." She said.

Nepgear eyed the girl for a moment, and noticed something... unfamiliar. "This is just my guess, but, you're not from Planeptune, are you?" She asked.

There was one thing that she also inferred, but she decided not to say it.

The black-haired girl froze.

"I'll take that as a yes." Nepgear said. "Don't worry. I won't take you into custody."

The girl sighed in relief. She thought that she was done for good after blowing her identity. Not like she was trying to hide it or anything, though. And she came to Planeptune by legal means, by the way!

"I know that you're from Lastation, so no need to be tensed." Nepgear said. "I just want to ask, what are you doing in this kind of place?"

The black-haired girl fidgeted a little. "Uhmmm, I'm somewhat lost. I was just walking around the forest, and suddenly the ground shook and opened a hole under my feet, so I fell down here."

"So that explains the hole on the surface." Nepgear said. "Anyways, I'll escort you up top. You should head back to the city."

The black-haired girl nodded in agreement and followed Nepgear to wherever she was headed to. After a few minutes of walk, they arrived at the hole where Nepgear just entered the underground cave. From what the black-haired girl could see, it was a miracle that she was still alive after falling from that height. Well, save her the wounds that she received when she woke up, though.

"Hold on tight." Nepgear said as she instantly lifted the ravenette onto her arms.

"Eh?"

She instantly blushed as she realized that she was on Nepgear's arms. She didn't know what to do, less likely where to hold on. Of all decisions that she could come up, she decided to wrap her arms around Nepgear's neck. Good grief.

The ravenette looked at Nepgear in the eyes. Her blushes instantly disappeared as she saw what kind of face Nepgear was making. Nothing. Nepgear's expression was nothing but vague, but the black-haired girl could totally see that she was hurting from the inside as she stared at her eyes, and she wondered what could've happened to have this girl make an expression like that.

As they reached the surface, Nepgear released the girl on her arms. "You should be fine now. I still have some things to deal with." Nepgear said as she turned back to the hole on the ground.

"W-Wait! You're going back in there?!" The black-haired girl stopped Nepgear.

"Yes. There are two of those things inside, and I still have to take the other one out." Nepgear said.

'There are two Ancient Dragons inside that cave?' The black-haired girl thought. Whichever angle she looked at that statement, it didn't make sense. For those beasts to inhabit a single area, was really unusual. In fact, it was the first time she heard something like that.

"Before I forget..." Nepgear turned back to her. "What's your name? You kind of resemble someone I know."

The black-haired girl hesitated for a bit."U...Uni..." Uni introduced reluctantly. Somehow, the thing that she resemble someone Nepgear know made her uneasy. "I... I know I should not ask this, but are you Purple Hea-"

"Don't call me that!"

Uni was interrupted before she could finish her sentence as she was startled by Nepgear's sudden outburst. Her heart raced like crazy, and wondered if she did something that could've upset the purple-haired girl. She didn't do anything but close her eyes from fear.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you..." Nepgear said as she looked away from Uni and bit her lip. "You can just call me Nepgear."

Uni was surprised. "E-Eh? Is it okay for me to?"

Nepgear nodded. "Yes, in fact, I would really appreciate it if you do."

Uni didn't know how to respond to that. A CPU wanted her to call her by her real name was something you wouldn't encounter everyday.

"O-Okay... N-Nepgear..." Uni said as she blushed. She won't get used to it any sooner. "I'll be on my way now, be careful!"

"Thanks." Nepgear said and flashed a smile again. She didn't know why that girl could make her smile, even though she knew the fact that she was...

"-Lastation's CPU Candidate, huh?" Nepgear said. She could remember her candidate days, where it was really peaceful, along with her sister. Until that stupid Console War took everything from her. She gritted her teeth on that single thought and shook her head, hoping that she could just forget all of it.

That girl was still innocent, was what Nepgear thought. She didn't know a single thing about how things work in both Gamindustri and Celestia yet, but sooner, she would. And when she does, she and Nepgear might stand on a different side. Though honestly speaking, if she could avoid that, Nepgear would do so, because she had nothing to do with _her_.

She hit her cheeks and returned to her current objective: to kill the last dragon inside this underground cave. It should be pretty easy to do so, since she had no problems in taking out the first one. Another one would not change anything.

Or so she thought.

 **~o~O~o~**

Uni arrived back in the center of Planeptune safely. Thanks to Nepgear, of course. She could feel her fatigue taking a toll on her body from that harsh experience she had earlier, and decided to rest for a bit. She could get some new clothes, as the one she was wearing was already torn up, and she'd rather not walk like a beggar in the middle of the streets.

She stopped by a certain clothing shop first and picked a set of clothes. A plain white tank top paired with a tight black blazers and a short red skirt. She was a little short on funds so she bought something cheap, because she wanted to fill her stomach later as well. She hadn't eaten anything since she arrived in Planeptune. She decided to grab a bite first before going back to Lastation.

After an hour or so, Uni finished her break time and immediately headed to the airship terminal to head back to Lastation.

 **~o~O~o~**

Uni arrived in Lastation after half an hour of travel. She headed to the Basilicom without any detours. She went to see her sister, Noire, to report what had happened today in her journey. She probably have a lot of things to say, though, and it kinda made her nervous. As she arrived in front of her sister's office, she knocked twice before opening the door.

"Sis, I'm back..." Uni said as she entered the room. There, she saw her sister on the desk, staring at her computer's monitor, completely oblivious about her surroundings.

Uni decided to get closer to see what caught Noire's attention. She walked to Noire's side to take a peek but before she could see everything, Noire snapped and realized that she wasn't alone in the room anymore, instinctively minimizing whatever she was reading.

"O-Oh, Uni. You're back." Noire said. "You look different. What happened to your clothes?"

"A-Ah, just ran into a trouble earlier, no need to be worried about it." Yeah, a little trouble involving an Ancient Dragon. "Anyway, what were you reading? It must be really serious that you were too focused on it."

Noire sighed. "Yeah, it is really serious." Noire said as she rubbed her temples. "I read about a hole suddenly appearing on the ground which leads to an underground cave in Leanbox. They sent a team to investigate the area two days ago but none has returned yet."

Uni was silent. If her hunch was correct, it would mean that...

"Apparently, the same phenomenon happened here in Lastation, around West Wind Valley." Noire said. "The same goes in Lowee."

Bingo. Uni was correct.

"I haven't sent a team to investigate it yet, but I got the area locked down. I will investigate it myself." Noire said as she turned off her computer. "So, how was your first time going out of Lastation? Did you learn a lot?"

Learned a lot... would be an understatement. Uni learned far more than she could imagine. And yes, it was Uni's first time going out of Lastation. Because she was a CPU candidate, she needed to familiarize herself with the world as well.

"Yes... I stopped by Planeptune for now. And aside from what the city's culture looks like, I gathered some information as well." Uni said in a proud manner.

Noire was surprised. She didn't expect that her sister would be this adaptive. "Heh, that was incredible of you, Uni. What did you find out?"

"Planeptune seems to be experiencing the same phenomenon." Uni said. "And if my hunch is correct, there would be two Ancient Dragons in that place as well."

Noire couldn't be more surprised. "Ancient Dragons, huh?" Noire said, but immediately realized something unusual. "Wait, how did you know all of this?"

Uni was silent. But Noire could see right through her silence.

"Don't tell me..."

Uni immediately bowed down. "I'm sorry, sis! But it wasn't like I decided to go in that place willingly!" She said. "I ran into an accident and fell down in that place."

"Don't be, Uni." Noire said as she lifted Uni's head up. "I'm glad that you're safe after going through all that trouble, that's all that matters."

"Sis..." Uni felt like crying now, but she held it up, and smiled instead. "Thank you...!"

Noire swung her head. "No, I should be the one thanking you for giving me that information. It really helps." She said and gave her sister a smile.

All's well that ends well, indeed.

"By the way Sis, I also met Planeptune's CPU..." Uni said.

Noire's eyes widened and she immediately grabbed Uni by her shoulders, startling the younger girl. "You met her?!"

Uni was confused. "W-What's wrong, Sis...?"

"Are you okay?! Did she do anything to you?!" Uni could see a completely panicking Noire in front of her, and it was her first time seeing her sister like this. Noire was usually calm and composed most of the time but then she realized that she also had two sides of personality.

"N-No... in fact... she was the one who helped me get out of that place..." Uni said.

Noire sighed in relief and gave her younger sister a tight hug. "Thank god...!"

"W-What happened... Sis? Is she... a bad person...?" Uni inquired. She was curious as to why Noire got worked up when she brought Nepgear as a topic. It didn't look like Nepgear was a bad person to Uni's eyes.

Noire didn't say anything and just hugged her sister. She was conflicted. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure if telling Uni about her past would do any good.

"Sis... please tell me. I want to know." Uni requested.

Noire broke the hug and stared at her sister. She could very well see the curiosity in her eyes. But Noire was afraid that Uni would hate her and think less of her if she told her what she did to _her._ And she wanted to avoid that at all cost.

But she couldn't refuse when her sister looked at her like that.

"...Okay... but... please don't think less of me after I tell you, okay?" Noire said.

Uni felt uneasy about that but nevertheless, she nodded.

Noire took a deep breath before talking. "Do you remember the Console War that I've told you?"

"The war between four CPUs of Gamindustri in Celestia." Uni answered. "Did something happen between you and Ne-, I mean, the CPU of Planeptune?"

Noire could've sworn that Uni almost said something, but she decided not to pay heed on it for now. "No, not between her and me. It was the CPU before her. Her sister, Neptune."

Uni was silent. Noire didn't tell her about the former CPU of Planeptune, about Neptune. She didn't know why Noire didn't mention about her before, and it was making her curious even more.

"At the time that our battles arrived at a stalemate, the three of us agreed to take Neptune down by teaming up." Noire said. "But we only came up with that idea because someone told us to do so."

"Who?"

Noire put a finger on Uni's lips to keep her silent. "We don't know. It is still a complete mystery to us."

"But, even with the three of us combined, we could not defeat her." Noire said. She should feel a little bitter with that defeat, but the guilt was eating her far too stronger than she thought it wouldn't. "And when she unleashed her true strength, we couldn't do a single thing. The next thing we knew, we were already on the ground."

Uni wanted to say something but Noire's finger was forbidding her to do so. And so, she gave up and just listened to Noire's story.

"I was pretty surprised when I regained my consciousness, that Me, Vert, and Blanc survived that attack from Neptune." Noire continued. "But when I came to know the reason why we were still alive, Neptune already passed away."

Uni was about to say something again, but Noire already knew what she wanted to know.

"The reason was, Neptune protected us from her own attack, at the price of her receiving the damage instead." Noire said.

Uni's eyes widened in surprise, but Noire expected that. Whatever the reason, it didn't make sense to Uni. Why in good heavens would you protect your enemies from your own attack, and get yourself hurt in the process?

"Neptune did that, because she wanted us to realize what matters the most." Noire gritted her teeth as she remembered her foolishness. But she had to. And Uni must know it. She had every right to know.

"That the whole war was pointless."

"That being the True Goddess of Gamindustri is pointless."

"That uniting Gamindustri under a single flag is pointless."

"That protecting your nation and the people dearest to you is the most important."

Noire could feel her heart in pain, but she endured it. This was nothing compared to what the Planeptune sisters have felt that day. This was the least she could do to atone for her sins, but she knew to herself that this wasn't enough.

"Neptune showed us the solution to end the conflict because we were blinded by something far away that we couldn't even see that the answer was already in front of us." Noire said. "The solution was indeed very simple. She wanted the four of us to become friends."

"But, Neptune was no longer with us. And so, her last request to us was to be friends with Nepgear, her little sister." Noire said. "But then again, we didn't know how to face her, and we failed in doing Neptune's final request."

"I could guess that Nepgear knew what happened back in Celestia, as when we finally had the courage to face her, Nepgear was far more broken than we had anticipated." Noire continued. She could remember that look from Nepgear at that time, and it really, really hurt her. "We couldn't do what Neptune asked us to do, and we left the place without accomplishing anything, with a pang of guilt in our hearts."

Noire paused for a bit. Uni was speechless. It was too much for Uni to take everything in. Noire's past, and Nepgear's loss; she didn't know how to react to that at all. Yet, she wanted to know more. She wanted to know what really had happened.

"Do you remember, when you were just born, that our world was once threatened?" Noire asked.

Uni nodded as a response. "Arfoire, was it?"

"Yes. It was a chance for us to make amends with Nepgear, by making peace between the four nations and teaming up with her in defeating Arfoire." Noire said. "But, before we've got a chance to talk with Nepgear, she already had killed Arfoire."

"Nepgear killed her?!" Uni reacted bewilderingly. "How did she manage to?"

"That... is something I don't know. Arfoire's goal was to take the CPUs' powers, but she failed on taking our powers and only managed to copy it, with the exception of Nepgear's because she was missing in action when Arfoire was wreaking havoc in Gamindustri." Noire explained. "But there were no difference between the two."

"And when she announced that she would destroy Gamindustri, we learned that she would start in Celestia, because it was the very foundation of the world itself." Noire continued without hesitation. "But when we arrived in Celestia, Nepgear was already there, and Arfoire was defeated by her."

Still, Uni didn't know how Nepgear managed to defeat Arfoire. If her theory was correct, Nepgear still wasn't the CPU of Planeptune at that time. And so she asked herself, how did she manage to get in Celestia alone?

"I know, Uni. I know what you are thinking." Noire said. "Yes, Nepgear still wasn't the CPU of Planeptune at that time, and the biggest mystery was how did she manage to step in Celestia, when the gates from the Basilicom to that place is powered on by the CPU itself."

Uni agreed. "Maybe she had someone help her?" Uni hypothesized.

"She was alone with Arfoire when we arrived, but we can't rule out the possibility." Noire said. "But then the question is, who helped her?"

Uni was silent. Well, she was still a kid that time so she wouldn't know anything. More importantly, she was locked in the Basilicom when everything of it happened.

"But, there was one thing that I was sure of." Noire suddenly spoke once more, catching her little sister's attention.

Uni had a confused look on her face and asked about what her sister was sure of.

"Nepgear was holding some sort of sword when we found her at Celestia. I believe it was what she used to kill Arfoire." Noire said. "And it wasn't the same weapon as we CPUs have."

Uni gulped and prepared for something she wouldn't expect.

"I don't know, but that weapon reeks of curse. I somehow felt a little afraid when I saw that weapon in her hands." Noire said as she remembered that event. She could see Nepgear staring at them with an empty look as she held on that cursed sword, and that alone made Noire feel weak down to her bones. That was no ordinary weapon. Just by looking at it, that sword had the power to kill divine and cursed beings.

She hugged Uni once more, surprising the younger girl. "That is why... I was so worried when you met her." Noire said as she hugged Uni tighter. "I thought that she might exact revenge on you because of what we did to Neptune."

With that, Uni also learned that Nepgear already knew her identity as the CPU candidate of Lastation. Well, it would be much more surprising if Nepgear didn't, though.

But still, Uni didn't even feel afraid of Nepgear. Instead, she felt pity towards her.

 **~o~O~o~**

Nepgear found herself back where she met Uni. In all honesty, she didn't know where to look, and looking aimlessly would just get her killed. She followed the road to the next area, as she could feel the air getting thinner and the lights glowing dimmer. The atmosphere's animosity was growing stronger every step she took deeper inside the cave.

After a few moments, she found herself in front a giant door. She could feel nothing but ominous aura from the other side. Her whole being kept on telling her to not open the door, to stay away from that room, and to get away from this place. But she just stood there, staring at the enormous door. She do well know the dangers that her mind and soul was telling her, but she cannot leave. She had to finish her mission. Because sooner or later, it might affect the surface.

And she had to prevent that at all cost.

'Why...?'

She asked herself why. Why she had to prevent that?

She didn't realize that her hand had reached the door, unintentionally opening it. It was also the moment that she snapped back from her thoughts. And before she knew it, she already had stepped inside the room. The door immediately closed, trapping her inside.

"..."

She raised her guard up. Anything could happen, now that she could barely see a thing. After a short moment, the room suddenly was lit by torches, and revealed something in the middle of the room.

"...Ngh...!" Nepgear's eyes widened as she saw the 'something' in the middle of the room.

There, a dragon was sleeping. But it was nothing compared to the dragon that Nepgear took down earlier. Its skin was colored black and red, and a lot larger in size.

"...A Catastrophic God of Fire...?" She mumbled to herself.

A God of Fire. One of the rare species of dragons in Gamindustri. They are totally not harmless, as their power could be compared well to CPUs. They weren't called catastrophic for no reason.

Nepgear gulped. She wasn't sure if she was ready for this. But she can't back down now, as she was trapped in this room, and the only way out was to take out her opponent. As the dragon opened her eyes, Nepgear instinctively charged towards it, going for the first strike. But the moment she was about to attack, her weapon was parried by the dragon's hand effortlessly.

"...!"

The dragon then started to charge a breath of fire, which prompted Nepgear to evade. The purple-haired CPU circled around the dragon as it unleashed its fire breath to avoid the attack, burning the entire ground. Nepgear then flew up to the ceiling and charged her weapon. She aimed at the dragon's head as she was charging and fired a laser beam towards it, but only to be blocked by its wings.

"...Tch." Nepgear clicked her tongue as she realized that petty attacks won't dent the dragon. She needed a stronger firepower to penetrate its defenses. She also need to find its weak point or it would just be a slow death for her. She attempted to fly to the other corner of the room but her foot got caught by the dragon's tail, preventing her from doing so.

"Oh Da-"

In an instant, she was slammed to the ground and then thrown away to the other side of the room and crashed into the wall hard.

"Guah-!" Nepgear grunted in pain as her back hit the wall violently. She could feel blood dripping out of her mouth but she couldn't care less. She was in danger as she saw the dragon charging her breath of fire once more.

She moved her body away from the dragon's line of fire out of instinct as she ignored the pain in her body after the dragon unleashed its flames, but she barely avoided it. She still felt the intense heat of the dragon's flames on her back.

Nepgear gritted her teeth in pain. 'How should I take this thing down?' She thought to herself as the dragon's flamethrower stopped. She attempted to fire another laser beam towards the dragon, but it was blocked by its wings once more. "This is going nowhere." She said to herself.

She fired multiple laser beams to the dragon as a cover fire so she could move around the room and find an opening, but she couldn't find one. After a short while, she saw the dragon's tail heading her way, and barely dodged it by ducking and lowering her altitude.

'That was close.' She thought to herself. She would break a limb or two if she got hit by that attack.

She then saw the dragon charging its breath of fire again. Nepgear instinctively moved out of its line of fire.

"...?"

She noticed that the dragon hasn't fired yet, and kept following her way as she flew around the room.

"This is it!" She said and pointed her weapon to the mouth of the dragon and fired on it. As her attack hit the dragon's mouth, an explosion erupted exactly on its face, and the beast roared in pain.

Nepgear wasted no time and flew up above the dragon while charging her weapon, and immediately dropped down towards it after firing a maximum charged laser beam.

"Take this!" A big pillar of light then appeared as Nepgear stabbed the dragon on its head, piercing the ceiling up to the surface. The God of Fire then got vaporized afterwards as the pillar of light disappeared.

The purple-haired CPU fell down on her knees and used her weapon as a support. That fight really inflicted a lot of damage to her. Her breathing was heavier than usual, and she could barely keep her consciousness.

"...No..."

She can't lose consciousness now. She can't kiss the ground now. She had to go back. But her body and mind wasn't cooperating, and had no intentions of doing so. She then fell down to the ground as she lost all of her strength, and her transformation reverted back. Her body's full of wounds, externally and internally, and could barely move a single limb now. She just stared at the hole she made earlier as light from the surface entered through it and illuminated her body, almost making a scenario of her death.

"...Ah..."

It was no use. She couldn't fight it. Her eyes were gaining weight every time she tried to keep herself awake. Just when she was about to close her eyes...

"You really did take it out alone, Nepgear..."

Nepgear's eyes shot open as she heard that voice. She then slowly turned to the source of the voice and saw a person hiding in the dark. "...It's you again..." Nepgear said as she glared at the person.

"Please... don't look at me like that. I won't do anything to you..." The person in the dark said. "Like I could do anything to you _physically_ anyway."

Nepgear didn't say anything and just clicked her tongue. "...What is it that you want from me...?"

The person in the dark grinned at her. "I've come to offer you a deal... in which you might be interested."

Nepgear got a bad feeling about that. In any case, this person was nothing but bad case for her. Yet, the thing that that person said that she would be interested made her curious. "... And what would that be...?"

The person moved closer to Nepgear and whispered something to her. Nepgear's eyes widened after hearing the other person's proposal to her. Nepgear then grabbed the person's collar."...You're just making that up, aren't you...?"

"C'mon, Nepgear. When was the last time I lied on you?"

Nepgear fell silent. She recalled all of her past encounters with her and yes, that person never lied to her. Not even once. But the proposal she received today was somewhat implausible.

"...What do you want in return...?" Nepgear asked.

The person gave Nepgear a smile. "Nothing. You will already pay the price when you do it."

"...You're not really convincing now." Nepgear said as she looked at the person with disdain.

"Well, if you don't like it, that's fine." The person said as she turned around. "It's just like a charity work from me; I've got nothing to lose anyway." She then started to walk back in the dark, but then she was stopped by Nepgear's call.

"Wait..." Nepgear called. The person then turned back to Nepgear. "...What is... the price to pay?"

The person walked back and kneeled before Nepgear. "To be honest, I am not sure. Because it will depend on you, or whatever you have."

Nepgear didn't really feel any better about that.

"But, if I were to name it, I would ask you something." The person then paused for a bit before talking again. "Are you willing to do everything, regardless of what it is, to make it come true?"

Nepgear fell silent once more. That question felt so heavy that she cannot utter a single word. But if there were chances of making _it_ come true, then there was no reason to hesitate, right?

"...Of course." Nepgear said as she made her decision. "...I accept your proposal."

The person smiled at Nepgear after hearing her answer. "Magnificent, Nepgear." The person then touched Nepgear's forehead. "Close your eyes. When you wake up, you will be on the surface."

Nepgear abided with the person's request and closed her eyes. The person then mumbled something, and dark red mist started to appear on her hand. It entered Nepgear's mind and body. Nepgear's wounds started to heal slowly and she fell into a deep slumber. In a short while, her body disappeared.

The person sighed in relief as Nepgear vanished. She then stood up and walked into the light that was coming from the pierced ceiling, revealing the person's midnight blue hair.

"Nepgear..." The person said in a low voice.

The person then smiled as _she_ looked up to the hole.

 _ **"Your world as you knew it, is gone. How far would you go and bring it back?"**_

* * *

 **There, chapter 2 is done!**

 **So, guess who was "That Person" :)**

 **Anyways, I want to thank everyone who supports this story! I see that most people in the archive were not fond of Angst or the like, but anyways, I still intend to finish this.**

 **TL Note: The Catastrophic God of Fire is the enemy in the Colosseum Battle "Eternal Calamity" from Re;Birth 2, the Hakyokumagatsu Hinokami. I don't know the exact translation so we'll just roll with that, huehuehue.**

 **Please tell me what you think of the story down in your reviews! I would really appreciate it!**

 **Until next time, see ya guys!**


	3. Real or Illusion?

**Hello guys! Time for chapter 3!**

 **So, I decided to work on my two fics alternately. That means, after this chapter, I will work on Memories, and then back here again. My fault for publishing two fics at the same time. Ha ha.**

 **In any case, most of you, or all of you, guessed who 'that person' was correctly. Yes, that was Kurome, but she will be using "Uzume" temporarily, because as we all know, Kurome got her name because Big Nep (And also Nep I think, I don't quite remember) named her that, and she is the original Uzume Tennouboshi. Oops, spoilers for everyone who haven't played VII yet. But eventually in this chapter, I'll have her named as Kurome. And no, she won't have the same exact personality as the Kurome from VII.**

 **Looking back, I now remember why I'm into this kind of genre. The first Nep Fanfic that I've read was titled "Goddess in the Echo" by** **MidniteBleuCrusader. God I love that fic but it was discontinued :( I wonder what happened to him. 'Twas 3 years ago or so.**

 **So, there's that. I don't have anything to say anymore other than my gratitude to the people who supports my story! You guys are the best :)**

 **Onto the chapter now, enjoy!**

* * *

"..."

Nepgear slowly opened her eyes as sunlight traversed through her eyes. It was already afternoon, and she found herself leaning on a tree. She wondered what just happened, and remembered the events earlier.

"...Uzume?"

She called a certain person's name, but she got no responses. She also found out that she was already on the surface, alone. Her wounds were gone, and her strength was back, like nothing happened.

She wondered why. Maybe Uzume did this for her?

She didn't know. All she knew was she'd get her answers if they meet again.

Nepgear stood up and started to walk back to Planeptune. She owed Uzume again for saving her life, and now Uzume was about to help her again, unconditionally, though she still wasn't sure if it was true though. She shook her head and fasten her pace. She'd ask Uzume about her true intentions later. She arrived back at the guild and reported the quest. The guild agents were astonished with the results and praised Nepgear. The CPU just gave them a smile as a response, and told them that they should use the reward of the quest for charity. She then excused herself and headed back to the Basilicom.

As she arrived back at the Basilicom, she immediately headed to her office. She found a little girl sitting on a book on her desk, with her eyes closed.

"Histoire...?" Nepgear called.

Histoire's eyes slowly opened. "Ah, Nepgear. You're back." She said as she rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry, I must've dozed off."

Nepgear swung her head. "No, it's alright. You can take a rest if you feel tired. I know you handled my work while I was gone." Nepgear said as she reassured her oracle.

"Thank you." Histoire said as she floated to the door. "Well then, if you'll excuse me..." She said and exited the office.

Nepgear sat down on her chair as Histoire left. Despite being healed completely, she felt tired all of a sudden. Well, fatigue can't be healed by any healing items, anyway. She then saw the documents placed on top of her desk; all of them were sorted and stamped properly. Histoire was really a good help to Nepgear and if possible, she wouldn't get tired of her antics, as Nepgear knew that she herself could get irrational sometimes.

Like today.

She then closed her eyes and decided to get some rest. She was really lucky to have Histoire on her side.

 **~o~O~o~**

It was peaceful at Gamindustri right now.

Noire sat down at her office, facing the screen of her computer. She seemed to be having a video call with two other persons, as there were two faces appearing on the screen.

"So, how was the investigation going, Vert?" Noire asked.

The girl with blonde hair in the screen, answered, "The outcome wasn't really so worth it, because I lost most of the soldiers I sent in that underground cave." Vert sighed. "But, we procured a result."

"Go on." The other girl in the screen, with brown-colored hair, wearing some sort of cap, said as she was intrigued. There was a caption "Blanc" under her image.

Vert closed her eyes for a moment. "It seems like, there are two Ancient Dragons inhabiting the area. The soldiers I sent managed to defeat one, but they failed to take the other one out, according to the lone survivor of the expedition." She explained.

Noire didn't look like she was pleased with the report. From her perspective, the cave was really dangerous. It was a good move that she hadn't sent any of her soldiers down there. "How did that man survive?"

"He was left outside, when the team encountered an enormous door. He was a scout, and has no combat capabilities." Vert said. "He said that a few moments after the team entered the other side of the door, it immediately closed, trapping them inside. The next thing he heard were screams."

"...So, you don't have an idea what this dragon looks like? Because it wouldn't make sense if that thing was the same as the one they defeated." Blanc said with a vague expression. Despite her face almost showing like she didn't give a damn, she was deeply concerned with the current issue.

Vert swung her head. "Unfortunately, you are correct." Vert said. "I assume it was also the case with you, Blanc?"

Blanc nodded. "I went down there myself, and defeated the first dragon, but I lost my way inside that I didn't find the second one." Blanc said as she clicked her tongue. She was ashamed of herself for getting lost in that dungeon, but really, the place was too cramped that she couldn't move properly.

"We also have that cave here in Lastation. I haven't gone down there myself, but I'm going to assume that it would be the same as your cases." Noire said as she crossed her arms. This was getting problematic, as they can't just send soldiers nor get in there themselves without solid information. It would be a complete suicide. "So, none of us have seen that second dragon, I see."

The three of them sighed in unison. If that would be the case, the three of them would need to explore one cave at a time together, but it would be a little time consuming for them, and still would be a suicide because they have no information.

But, they've got no choice.

"Hey, how about we-" Noire interrupted herself as Blanc intervened.

"Wait up, Noire. I've got a report from the guild." Blanc said. "I'll be right back." She said as she stepped away from her computer.

Noire and Vert wondered what could've happened. Along with that, they also remembered that there wasn't a single quest that involved that cave because they locked the down the area, and mentally slapped themselves for doing that. After a few minutes, Blanc went back in front of her computer.

"Sorry about that." Blanc said.

"So, what's the news, Blanc?" Noire asked. It seemed like she was interested with the report, because it came directly from the guild itself.

Blanc sighed. "You wouldn't believe this. Planeptune also had the same phenomenon." She said.

Neither Noire nor Vert was surprised. "Well, judging that the three of us are experiencing the same problem, it wouldn't be too surprising if Planeptune also do." Vert remarked.

"My sentence is in the past tense, Vert." Blanc said.

Vert narrowed her eyes as she stared at her screen. "What do you mean by that, Blanc?" Vert asked as she didn't really get what Blanc was trying to imply.

But it was different for Noire.

"You don't mean...?" Noire said as she had a shocked look on her face. She was thinking exactly what Blanc had in her hands right now.

Blanc nodded. "Yes. Planeptune had already defeated the second dragon in their dungeon." She said as she crossed her arms. "And what's more, the case was resolved half an hour ago, and a full report containing the dragon's information is included as well."

"We're listening." Vert said.

Blanc then cleared her throat before speaking once more. "The second dragon was no ordinary dragon. According to the report, it was a Catastrophic God of Fire."

"A God of Fire, you say?!" Both Noire and Vert was surprised after hearing that. The God of Fire was no ordinary dragon, as it has greater intelligence compared to other monsters. It was a being that even a CPU could not take out alone.

Or so they thought.

"Guess who did it." Blanc said.

A complete silence veiled the conference as Vert and Noire spared some time to think of an answer. Vert seemed to be empty-handed, but Noire wasn't as she had some clues. She wondered who could've done it, but recalling back what Uni just said to her earlier...

"No way..." Noire said in a low voice as there was only one person in mind who could've done it.

It wasn't even that long when Uni left Planeptune, specifically from that dungeon. There was only one person who was with Uni at that time, and that was...

"Noire, do you know who it was?" Vert asked.

Not really sure if Noire should answer that question, but she still did. "It was Nepgear, right?"

"Correct. It was Nepgear, alone." Blanc said. Vert had this shocked expression after hearing that answer.

Neither of the three could believe that Nepgear alone took down that beast. Well, none of them had encountered something like that. It was just, there were no records of a Catastrophic God of Fire being killed alone were recorded in history. Because most of them, if not all, were taken down by a large army along with their predecessor CPUs. But for Nepgear to take that beast down alone, they had grown anxious about their own capabilities.

"Are Planeptune CPUs... really this strong?" Vert asked worryingly. She asked that because of what happened during the Console War.

Blanc twitched her eyebrow after hearing that question. "Oi, that's not funny, you know."

"I'm not trying to be funny here, Blanc. I'm serious." Vert said as she crossed her arms. "You do know how Neptune alone took the three of us down. And now, Nepgear took out that beast alone. Isn't it going to be a bad news if Nepgear suddenly attacks us?"

Noire slammed her desk lightly. "Vert. Please don't think like that." She said.

"Why are you defending her, Noire?"

Noire sighed. This discussion was getting nowhere. They should be worrying about the underground caves and that beast, but here they were, stuck on discussing about Nepgear. "Just... I know she wouldn't attack us without a reason." Noire said as she leaned on her chair.

"But she had all the reason to attack us." Blanc stated the obvious.

Noire didn't have the words to counter that, as it was completely true. Nepgear really did have all the reason to attack them, and it was because of Neptune. But if she had the plans to attack them, Uni shouldn't have been here anymore.

"..."

She kept her mouth shut and didn't say a word.

"Nepgear aside, what are we going to do with the current problem on our hands?" Vert asked.

Silence.

Vert sighed. "I propose we eliminate the dragons together one by one." She said as she folded her hands. "It would be safer that way."

Noire and Blanc nodded as a response. "As much as I hate it, we don't have a choice." Blanc said and sighed in disappointment.

"Hush it, Blanc, we're not Nepgear. Remember, she was also the one who defeated Arfoire alone." Noire said. "There's no reason to compare yourself to her."

Blanc clicked her tongue. Noire saw right through her thoughts from the other side of the screen. Well, in any case, they've got too many problems on their plate right now, and adding more useless thoughts would not be a great idea. But yeah, Noire might've said it, but deep inside, she still felt insecure about it.

 **~o~O~o~**

 _I opened my eyes._

 _Black. Just pitch black. I couldn't see a thing, not even my hands and my feet as I tried to look at them. A void could be used as a word to describe the place I was in. I started to move my legs, despite not being able to see a single thing. I walked... and walked... and walked... not even knowing if I was gaining progress. I just walked... and walked... and walked..._

 _And walked... until a voice echoed._

 _"Nepgear..."_

 _I stopped on my tracks as I heard that voice. I knew that voice. I knew that! It was the voice that I've not heard for years!_

 _But, why would I hear it here...?_

 _"Nepgear..."_

 _I looked around, but the darkness was hindering my vision. I knew that 'she' was here, and she was near. If only a light would just illuminate this goddess forsaken darkness...!_

 _"...?"_

 _Suddenly, I was gaining vision of my shadow. Though in front of me, it was still pitched black, but my feet had shadows._

 _The light was coming from behind._

 _"Nepgear..."_

 _My heart raced. Tears started to escape my eyes as I heard that voice once more. Ah, how long have I been longing to hear_ her _voice again...?_

 _"Nepgear..."_

 _I slowly turned myself around. There, I saw a tall woman with purple hair, tied in twin-braid style, with her sky blue eyes glowing radiantly. She was wearing a dark purple suit, which was no alien to me. I knew who this person was. I knew her. Even when the whole world forgot her, I remembered her._

 _"Sis..." I said in a low voice._

 _My sister, Neptune. Ah, how long was it since the last time I saw her? I already forgot, but I couldn't care less. She was here, that was all that matters._

 _"Sis...!" I started to walk towards her. Neptune just smiled at me, in which I responded with a smile as well._

 _She turned around and started to walk away. I was confused at first as to why she did that. "Sis...?"_

 _Neptune was gaining distance. I've got to catch up with her! I walked faster and eventually ran towards her, but no matter how fast I was, Neptune was still gaining distance from me and she gradually became out of my reach. Not like she was within my reach in the first place._

 _"Sis... please! Don't leave me...!"_

 _I can't. It hurt. Why...? Sis...? Why did you leave me alone...? I was scared...! All these years without you... was nothing but torment! But now... I finally got a chance to see you, why would you leave again...?_

 ** _"Nepgear... you don't need to."_**

 _What...?_

 _"Siiiiiisssss-!"_

 **~o~O~o~**

"Siiiiiisssss-!"

Nepgear's eyes shot open as she woke up from her dream. Her heart was racing, with her breathing heavier than normal. She was covered in sweat, with her eyes filled with tears.

She then realized that she was in her office, with the lights on, though she didn't remember turning them on. To say that she had dozed off again would be an understatement. It was already around five in the morning when she looked at the clock.

Well, she felt very fatigued yesterday, so she herself wasn't surprised that she suddenly fell asleep.

"It looked like you had a bad dream, Nepgear..." A voice suddenly filled Nepgear's ears.

Nepgear slowly turned to the source of the voice. Her vision was blurry because of the tears, and couldn't identify whose voice was that because she still wasn't fully awake.

"Sis...?" Nepgear said.

The purple CPU heard a chuckle afterwards. She then rubbed her eyes and hit her cheeks a little to wake herself up completely. And that was the time when she realized that she was already in the real world.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not your sister."

Nepgear blinked twice as she stared at the person on her desk. If she was the past Nepgear, she would've blushed from embarrassment.

"Uzume..."

There, a girl with empty, dark blue eyes with a light red hue and long, midnight blue hair, was staring at Nepgear. Her outfit covers most of her body, with combinations of black, pale grey and indigo colors.

Uzume smiled at Nepgear. "Finally awake now?"

"Yes."Nepgear said as she nodded. "By the way, thank you for healing my injuries." She said.

Uzume just waved her hand. "No need to thank me. Can't have you dying right now, or else Planeptune will be on it's end."

For some reason, Nepgear wasn't really surprised to hear that. It was true though. Right now, there was no CPU candidate in Planeptune, and if she were to die, no one would be able to replace her. And candidates don't just come and go.

"By the way, Nepgear. I have a favor to ask of you." Uzume said as she crossed her legs. "This is only between the two of us."

Nepgear tilted her head in confusion. This was the first time that Uzume asked her for favors. "I want you to give me a new name."

"...Excuse me...?"

Uzume sighed. Well, she kind of expected that. Asking someone to give her a new name was definitely weird in many levels. "...Forget it. Haha." Uzume said as she just laughed at herself.

Nepgear didn't really catch Uzume's intentions, but she somewhat found it funny. She'd definitely think of a name for her in the future.

"If you say so..." Nepgear said. "By the way, it's rare for you to come here."

"I just want to check up on you... if you're ready." Uzume said as she jumped down from the desk.

Nepgear didn't quite get what she was implying. She tried to look back at her memories to find the answer, and eventually remembered her deal with her. Though she still asked to make sure she wouldn't get it wrong, again. "What do you mean?"

"Our _deal_." Uzume said. Nepgear was right. "We'll leave when you're ready."

"Where are we going?"

Uzume swung her head. "You'll know when we get there."

 **~o~O~o~**

Histoire slowly opened her eyes as she woke up from her sleep. She felt refreshed, despite just having a few hours of sleep (She just took a nap a few hours after Nepgear told her to rest, and worked herself again, and slept again). Well, in any case, she didn't really need much sleep at all. She got up and stretched her arms to ease the stiffness of her body from sleep. She then slipped out of her bed (yes, she has a bed) and jumped on her tome. Another day of work was waiting for her.

Histoire exited her room and headed straight to Nepgear's office. As soon as she was nearing her destination, she could hear voices from the room. She could recognize one voice completely, but the other one was somehow... nostalgic to her ears? She was about to knock on the door as she arrived, but it suddenly opened. She then saw two people in the room, one with long, lilac hair and the other with long, midnight blue hair.

"Oh, Histoire. You're awake now. Good Morning." Nepgear greeted as she saw Histoire outside the room. "You caught us on our way out."

"Good Morning, Nepgear." Histoire greeted back. "Where are you off to?"

"Oh, we'll be out for I think days to take care of some business." Nepgear said and folded her hands. "Please take care of things here while I'm gone."

Histoire turned to Nepgear's companion, and received a smile from her. For some reason, she somehow felt a nostalgic feeling as she stared at the said girl. It was like, she had seen her from before, but she couldn't remember when or where.

"It's fine with me..." Histoire said and gave Nepgear a reassuring smile.

"Thank you. We'll be on our way now." Nepgear said as she exited the room with her companion. Histoire was flabbergasted a little. To her, Nepgear seemed to be a little excited, but the reason why was unknown. Histoire didn't really mind it though. In fact, she was a little happy.

But there was one thing that was bothering her.

"Wait." Histoire said as she stopped the two. They then turned back to Histoire with confused looks on their faces. "I... I haven't seen you here before. What's your name?" The question was directed to the girl with midnight blue hair.

The said girl grinned at Histoire. "Oh, yes, I haven't introduced myself yet." She said as she made a 'Tee-hee' pose, which somehow unnerved Nepgear. "The name's Uzume..."

Histoire's eyes widened a little as she heard that name, which was... kind of expected by Uzume.

"Uzume Tennouboshi."

 **~o~O~o~**

Nepgear and Uzume left afterwards, leaving Histoire in Nepgear's office. The book fairy was definitely sure that she had heard that name before, but she could not exactly recall when... or where.

"..."

She tried to dig inside her memories. She could feel a very strong nostalgic feeling by just hearing the name Uzume. So nostalgic, yet painful. She stopped herself from digging deeper by opening her eyes and shutting down her search activity.

"Goddess, this would take me three years to find that memory." Histoire sighed in disappointment. She wanted to recover that memory, in all honesty.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation.

Nepgear and Uzume arrived at Lastation not too long ago via airship. The journey took roughly half an hour because of, well, the airship must be filled with passengers first. Common practice, yeah.

"Say, Uzume..." Nepgear called as she stepped out of the airship. "Why are we in Lastation?" She asked and turned to her companion.

Uzume stepped forward and started to walk away, with Nepgear following from behind. "Now, now, no need to rush. You'll see when we get there."

"You being secretive is really suspicious."

Uzume ignored Nepgear's comment and just chuckled. Really, now? With how long they've been together, Nepgear was still feeling suspicious of her.

"It's a surprise, Nepgear." Uzume said.

Nepgear really didn't find that amusing. Well, she couldn't do anything about it, so she just followed Uzume to where she was headed. She'd get her answers later anyway. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at West Wind Valley. Nepgear was about to ask something again but she realized that Uzume wouldn't entertain questions as she just kept on walking.

They arrived at a certain spot, filled with trees and grasses. Uzume's pace slowed as she kept on minding her every step. Nepgear did the same as she followed the dark blue-haired girl. After a short while, Uzume stopped.

"We're here." Uzume said.

Nepgear peeked in front of Uzume and saw a giant hole on the ground. "What is that hole?"

"It's the same as the one you had in Planeptune." Uzume said as she walked towards it. "The same goes for Lowee and Leanbox."

"I didn't know..." Nepgear said and walked beside Uzume. She already knew that they were going inside this place.

Uzume chuckled at Nepgear's comment. It was laughable, really. "Of course, you wouldn't know. You don't give a damn about other nations anyway."

Nepgear popped a nerve after hearing that, but she knew to herself that Uzume was correct, so she didn't have any rebuttal for that. Why would she even care about _them?_

"Let's go." Uzume said as she jumped down, with Nepgear nodding and following her.

The cave was dark, almost the same as Planeptune had, was what Nepgear had in mind. Though the structure of course was different, because the terrain was different as well. Uzume and Nepgear didn't talk as they made their way to where Uzume was taking themselves. As they got deeper and deeper in the cave, they could hear something. Something like, battle cries.

"Looks like we're not the first ones here." Uzume said without stopping on her tracks.

Nepgear didn't say anything as she just followed Uzume's pace. After a short while, Uzume stopped.

"Uzume?" Nepgear called, but Uzume didn't respond. She then walked beside her, and saw an enormous door in front of them. "This is..."

"It's as you think, Nepgear." Uzume said.

They could hear cries from the other side of the door. Nepgear was sure that there were people inside battling whatever beast was sleeping in that room. Nepgear was about to touch the door, but she was stopped by Uzume as she lifted her right arm in front of Nepgear. Nepgear wondered why Uzume stopped her, until Uzume picked up a stone on the ground, and chucked it towards the door. The moment the stone collided with the door, a wave of electricity ran through its surface, and pulvered the stone completely.

"What's going on?" Nepgear asked.

Uzume snapped her fingers as she observed the door. "It's as you see. A seal is triggered whenever someone enters this room."

"I could've guessed that." Nepgear said. "How are we going to enter?"

"Who do you think I am?"

"Eh?"

The next thing Nepgear knew, the door instantly lit up as it got covered in dark red mist exiting from Uzume's right palm. As the mist disappeared, Uzume walked towards the door and tried to poke it. Nepgear panicked a little and attempted to stop her but as Uzume's finger touched the door, nothing happened.

"Looks like it's clear." Uzume said. "Though we have a slight problem." She said as she turned back to Nepgear.

Nepgear raised an eyebrow.

"Well, this door won't open... unless..."

Nepgear made an 'Ah' expression and transformed to her HDD form. Uzume got a bad feeling about that and stepped away from Nepgear's line of fire, as she was already charging her weapon. She then pulled the trigger, firing a laser towards the door.

"Well, I should've expected this." Uzume said as she stared at the laser beam heading towards the door.

A loud explosion could be heard around the cave as the door got destroyed by Nepgear's weapon. As soon as the smokes and dusts dissipated, a hole was revealed on the door. "Well, do we still have a _slight_ problem?" Nepgear asked as she winked at Uzume.

Uzume just smiled awkwardly as she looked away from Nepgear.

"So, are we going in or what?" Nepgear asked as she rested her weapon on her shoulder.

Uzume swung her head in disagreement. "No, not me. Only you." She said as she took a step back to the shadows and disappeared. "I'll see you later, when everything's clear."

Nepgear didn't understand why Uzume would not accompany her inside. Or maybe just, she didn't want anyone to see her. Well, Nepgear was sure that it was the latter one.

She levitated towards the door and entered the room. As soon as she got near the center of the room, she saw three people in midair plus a dragon staring at her. And surprisingly, she wasn't surprised to see them, including the monster.

"Nepgear?!"

She heard three voices call her name in unison. Three voices that she didn't want to hear. And also, three people that she didn't want to see.

The voices of the CPUs of Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. Which means, Noire, Blanc, and Vert.

She sighed in disappointment. What a nice timing to meet them.

Nepgear then stuck her weapon on the ground, and leaned on it. "Please don't mind me, continue." She said and waved her hands off.

"What the hell?!" Blanc angrily said as she heard Nepgear's comment. That seriously pissed her off.

But of course, the monster didn't wait for them as it started to charge a breath of fire, in which the three CPUs stayed away from its line of fire, which also was directed at Nepgear.

"Nepgear, get away from there!" Noire shouted as she flew away from the dragon.

But Nepgear didn't move and just sighed. She wanted to get this over with, but it looked like it wouldn't be any sooner if she were to leave this matter to their hands. Before the dragon could fully charge its fire breath, Nepgear pulled her weapon from the ground and fired towards the dragon's mouth in a heartbeat, causing a large explosion right on its face.

 _'It was effective?!'_ The three CPUs thought and was surprised as they saw the big explosion. They had been doing everything they can to damage the dragon, but to no avail, yet Nepgear managed to injure it easily. They then turned back to Nepgear, who just stabbed her weapon on the ground, and leaned on it again. That action implied that she was leaving the rest to them.

Without wasting any moment, Vert, Noire, and Blanc delivered a barrage of attacks to the vulnerable dragon simultaneously in all directions and continuously. After a short while of continuous rapid attacks, the dragon was finally subdued, and it vaporized. The three landed on the ground and sighed in relief as their battle had finally come to an end. They then walked towards Nepgear.

Nepgear just had her arms crossed, with her head leaning forward a little, and her eyes closed. From Noire's point of view, Nepgear didn't really want to see them.

"So, uhm... Nepgear..." Vert called nervously. They weren't expecting Nepgear to see them in a place like this, and teaming up again. "Thank-"

"No need to thank me. I was just passing by." Nepgear interrupted Vert before she could finish her sentence. "If you're done here, please leave me alone."

Blanc didn't look so pleased with Nepgear's arrogance. Though that was her impression only, at least. "Why, you-!" Blanc shoved Vert and attempted to grab Nepgear by the neck, but Noire stopped her by pulling her back.

"Okay. We'll leave now." Noire said and dragged the protesting Blanc out of the room, while Vert just followed them.

Nepgear sighed in relief as the three disappeared from her sight. It was hard for her to keep herself from laying a hand on them, and if they didn't leave few moments ago, she might've done something to them. Well, every time she saw them, she would just remember what happened to her sister, and it wasn't something that happiness could be derived from.

"Are you okay, Nepgear?" A voice suddenly filled Nepgear's ears as she was drowned in her thoughts.

Nepgear turned to the source of the voice. "Uzume..." She said as she saw Uzume right beside her. "Uzume...!" She called once more as her tears escaped from her eyes, and attempted to hug Uzume, but she failed as she just passed through her body.

"Ah, I wish I could embrace you, but you know, I have no physical form in this world." Uzume said as she made a weak smile. "We'll start once you're feeling better, Nepgear."

Nepgear swung her head and wiped her tears. She can't afford to be emotional right now. "No, I'm fine. Please do what you need to do."

"Okay then." Uzume said as she stepped in the middle of the room.

She then knelt down and touched the ground. Her hand moved around, seemingly trying to look for something. After a short while, the ground sparked as her hand made contact with something, and a large portal appeared behind her.

"What... is that?" Nepgear asked as she stared at the portal in awe. Though she might've known a thing or two about that thing, she nonetheless asked still.

Uzume offered Nepgear the way. "You'll see when we get to the other side." She said.

Nepgear walked towards the portal without any second thoughts. As soon as she was about the step inside, Uzume turned her head back at the entrance of the room. "Uzume? What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing." She replied and turned back to the portal. "Let's go."

 **~o~O~o~**

"Let me go, Noire! Goddess damn it!"

Noire let go of the hand of the CPU she was holding. "Didn't I tell you before Blanc, that we cannot hurt Nepgear?" Noire asked as she knocked some sense to Blanc.

"But that doesn't mean-"

"She's right, Blanc." Vert said as she tried to calm the enraged goddess. "We still haven't fulfilled Neptune's request; that's the least we could do."

Blanc clicked her tongue. It was Neptune that was holding her back. If Neptune wasn't related to Nepgear in any way, she would've sliced that girl in half already. If she could, that is.

"Blanc aside, I'm curious as to why Nepgear is here." Vert said as she reverted her transformation. "Surely, neither of you believed that she was just passing by, right?"

Noire and Blanc reverted their transformation as well and nodded in agreement. Finally, a serious talk, was what Blanc had in mind. The three of them then turned their attention back to the door which was destroyed by Nepgear earlier.

"Let's check it out." Noire said and sneaked back to the door, followed by Vert and Blanc.

As they got close, they hid to the right side of the door. They then one by one took a peek inside, and they saw Nepgear in the middle of the room, with a person they didn't recognize. She was on her knees, with her hand observing the ground. After a short while, a large portal appeared.

"What the hell is that?" Blanc asked quietly.

Noire narrowed her eyes as she stared at the portal. "I don't know but-" Noire interrupted herself as she saw the unidentified person look at their direction and she immediately pulled Blanc and Vert away from the entrance.

"Wh-" Noire covered the two's mouth before they could let out a voice.

"Ssh! We've been spotted!" Noire said under her breath.

She waited for a few minutes before letting Blanc and Vert go as nobody came to them. Noire took a peek inside the room once more, and was surprised that nobody was inside anymore.

"Where did they go...?" Vert asked as they entered the empty room again.

But that question was left unanswered.

 **~o~O~o~**

Nepgear and Uzume traversed through the portal, and now they were walking into something like a wormhole.

"So, this is why we traveled to Lastation." Nepgear said as she was walking beside Uzume. "That cave is a portal."

Uzume chuckled a little. "Actually, the same goes for Planeptune, Lowee, and Leanbox." She said.

"Then why didn't we use the one in Planeptune? We could've saved a lot of precious time."

"You blew up the room, remember?"

Nepgear didn't have a bullet to refute that. Well, it was true though. She did blow up the room, specifically the ceiling. And now that place was filled with rubble. And also, she reminded herself to better tone the explosions down a little.

Yep, just a little.

"How did you know that these caves were portals?" Nepgear asked. It was weird enough that Uzume knew all of these facts, unless-

Uzume grinned evilly at Nepgear. "I created them."

-she created them. Yeah, that was why.

"You what?!" Nepgear couldn't believe it. So the trouble she had before was caused by this girl! "Did you know how much stuff I went through just to defeat that goddess forsaken monster alone?!"

Uzume guarded herself and lifted her hands. "Wait, wait, those monsters weren't part of my intentions, I swear!" She said. Well, she wasn't lying, though, it was a miscalculation that she brought them, unintentionally. "I just wanted to make an easy way from where we are going and to your world, whichever nation I found myself in."

"Where are we headed anyway?" Nepgear asked.

Uzume lowered her hands. It seemed like, they were nearly there, so she guessed that it would be okay to tell her now as they walked towards the end of this tunnel.

"My home." Uzume said.

Nepgear gazed at Uzume, and knew that she wasn't kidding. There were no hints of joke on her voice, let alone from the look on her face. She was serious. She really was taking Nepgear to her home.

But the question was, why?

After a short while, Nepgear saw a light at the end of the road. As they got near it, the whole place was covered in blinding light and as Nepgear regained her vision, she saw an unbelievable view. The scene in front of her blew all the expectations she had of Uzume having a normal home.

She was speechless.

Floating buildings and boulders, mostly destroyed, voids from a distance, and unidentified lighting in the skies. It was like, how time and space looked like physically.

"I know you are surprised, but I am telling you the truth." Uzume said as she faced Nepgear. "This is my home."

Still, Nepgear didn't manage to say a word. She couldn't believe it, yet she did. The very existence of this world was confusing her.

"Well, technically. But the truth is..." Uzume said as she looked away from Nepgear and turned to the shining light from afar. "This dimension is the heart of my very existence." She then grabbed Nepgear's hand, which surprised the lilac-haired girl that she actually felt Uzume's touch. "This is a proof."

"But... why are you showing me this?" Nepgear asked.

Uzume pointed to the shining light in the sky. No, it wasn't really a shining light. It was a crystal brimming with light. "Because I want the two of us to trust each other."

Nepgear didn't quite understand what Uzume was trying to say as she looked at the crystal. She wasn't sure, but the more she stared at that crystal, the more it looked familiar to her. She wondered where she had seen something like that, but she couldn't recall clearly.

"See that crystal over there? That is the source of my life." Uzume said. "If you destroy that, this dimension will collapse, and I will disappear."

Nepgear was speechless once again. Why in the goodness would Uzume tell her about her weakness?

"I know you still have doubts, but I want you to trust me with this." Uzume said as patted Nepgear's shoulder. "But, the outcome will solely depend on you, Nepgear."

Now that wasn't really reassuring.

Uzume lifted her hand, and in a short moment, dark red mist appeared from her hand and slowly, a sword emerged. The sword which Nepgear was very familiar with, as she held on it once already. The purple sword, which emanates visible aura of curses.

"I'm lending it to you again, you will need it." Uzume said as she handed the sword to Nepgear, in which she accepted it, reluctantly though.

"You never told me the name of this sword, nor where it came from." Nepgear said as she observed the sword. She herself knew that this sword was dangerous, but she wasn't afraid to wield it, since she wasn't using it on herself anyway.

Uzume frowned a little, which confused the purple CPU. She wasn't sure if it was alright to tell her, but Nepgear really wanted to know it, as she was staring at Uzume now with expectant look on her face.

She sighed. "Its name is Gehaburn. I acquired that... well, _someone_ gave it to me when I was in another dimension." Uzume said, followed by a bite on her lips. Nepgear was confused why Uzume did that, but the feeling of wanting to know more was stronger than the reason why Uzume bit her lips. And so, Nepgear didn't say a word and just nodded, waiting for Uzume to talk again.

"That sword was used to defeat the threat in that dimension, the Deity of Sin, Arfoire." Uzume said.

Nepgear made an 'Ah' expression after hearing that. So that was the reason why this sword was very effective when she used it to kill Arfoire. Though she wasn't sure if the Arfoire here was the same as the Deity of Sin from that dimension, nevertheless, they were both Arfoire, technically.

"But of course... it didn't come without a price." Uzume said.

Now, Nepgear wasn't sure if she wanted to hear that, but no voice of protest escaped her lips.

"This weapon... can't be used, unless all other CPUs of one generation is killed by this sword, until there is only one CPU left." Uzume reluctantly said. In all honesty, she didn't think it would be good for Nepgear to know this right now. "This sword was strengthened by the lives of the CPUs it killed."

Nepgear's heart raced as she heard what Uzume just said. One CPU... killed all other CPUs? The sword absorbed the power of the CPUs it killed? That was something she couldn't just believe. Yet for some reason, she found it _not too impossible_ to happen. She then turned her attention towards the sword she was holding. She could feel nothing but ominous aura and curses inside the blade. Nepgear attempted to touch the blade using her other free hand, but she was instantly stopped by Uzume.

"Don't even think about it." Uzume then gripped on Nepgear's arm tightly, almost enough to leave a mark on it. "Okay, we're wasting enough time. Follow me." She said and let go of Nepgear's arm.

Uzume floated away from the ground, with Nepgear following her behind. Nepgear was still thinking about the story Uzume just told her. She wondered _who_ that CPU was who sacrificed the other CPUs to save her world. But it looked like Uzume wouldn't tell her anything even if she asked. They landed at a certain building after flying for a while. Nepgear reverted her transformation before following Uzume to the entrance.

Before Uzume touched the door way in, she turned to Nepgear. "Nepgear." She called.

"What's wrong?" Nepgear asked.

Uzume stared at her in the eyes for a few seconds before answering. "This might be useless, as you may not remember anything later, but all you will see is a delusion."

"What do you mean, delusion?"

"Just as I said." Uzume said. "I know you can do it. It's you, after all."

Nepgear didn't really feel happy to hear that. "What am I going to do exactly?"

"You will have to figure that out on your own."

Now, Nepgear felt like she didn't want to do this anymore. With that vague explanation, how in good Gamindustri would she able to figure out something that she wasn't even aware of? But, if it was all for the sake of _that..._ then there was no reason to hesitate.

Right?

They entered the building. Well, it wasn't really a building. It looked like a castle of sorts. Nepgear could've sworn that she had seen something like this in Planeptune, though she couldn't remember its name. The place didn't look threatening, so their journey inside the castle was safe. After a short while, they entered a certain room.

"Come." Uzume said as she lead Nepgear to the center of the room. "This place should be good."

"Anything special here why you picked this place?" Nepgear inquired.

Uzume smirked. "Nothing really. I just want a spacious room."

Uzume ordered Nepgear to stand on the center of the room. There was some sort of circle drawn on the floor, in which she couldn't identify. She just hoped it wasn't a transmutation circle or something like that.

"Are you ready, Nepgear?" Uzume asked. Nepgear took a deep breath before nodding.

Uzume lifted her arms, and dark red mist escaped from her hand and headed towards the circle on the floor. As soon as it covered the circle completely, the mist headed towards Nepgear's body. Nepgear's vision gradually became darker as the mist was continuously covering her entire body.

She would be lying if she said that she wasn't scared. She turned to Uzume, who was just smiling at her.

 _'Ah, I almost forgot...'_ Nepgear smiled as she remembered something. "Uzume." Nepgear called. She gotta say that before she loses her vision.

"What is it?"

"You told me to give you a new name." Nepgear said. She had the perfect name for her in her mind. And all she had to do was say it.

Uzume sighed, but not in disappointment. She was kinda amused with that, though. "I told you to forget about it."

"Kurome." Nepgear said before she was completely covered by the mist. "Kurome Ankokuboshi." She then disappeared from where she was standing.

Uzume sighed. She tried to keep her palm from reaching her face, but she failed miserably and completely face palmed. She couldn't believe Nepgear just gave her such name. Did she even think about that seriously?

"That Nepgear..." She said and sighed.

She can't say that she didn't like that name though.

* * *

 **There, chapter 3 is done!**

 **Honestly, I didn't intend to make this longer. But if I shortened it up to that ending, there would be a lot of holes, so I decided to place it there, and I didn't expect it to go up to 7k+ words.**

 **Now, I know guys that you might be thinking why Kurome's not a baddie. Well, I won't say anything yet, huehuehue. And yep, they are partners-in-crime!**

 **So, if you guys are wondering, the method that Uzu- Kurome just used on Nepgear is, well, those who played VII should already know it. To those who haven't played VII yet, you better play it! IT'S SUCH A GREAT GAME. :)**

 **So, how's the story going so far for you guys? Please do tell me! :D I would very much appreciate it!**

 **Until next time, see ya guys!**


	4. Dreams and Wishes

**Hello guys! Time for chapter 4! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**

 **Even though there are only few people giving their reviews, I still appreciate it! Especially those constructive criticisms :) I guess I still have a long way to go xD**

 **Anyways, answering your questions!**

 **To Draen: That will come eventually. You gotta wait for it :) Though it might/will be indirect, since I have a habit of playing the mysterious :)**

 **Got nothing to say anymore other than my gratitude to those who are following my story! You guys are the best :3**

 **Onto the chapter now, enjoy!**

* * *

 _I opened my eyes._

 _I met a, uh, familiar ceiling. Not really sure why, but I could definitely say that it was indeed familiar to me._

 _Well, it was none other than the ceiling of my own room. I just remembered._

 _Was I sleeping? Yeah, probably I was. I wouldn't wake up inside my room, on my own bed, if I wasn't sleeping. Either way, I sat up on my bed, and stretched my arms up. I had another day waiting for me, and that was the reason why I can't just stay here doing nothing._

 _"Nepgear...?"_

 _I heard someone call out my name, after two knocks. It seemed to be coming outside my room. I stood up and walked towards the door to check who was outside. As I opened, I saw a girl with the same hair color as mine, a little shorter than me in height, standing at the doorway._

 _"Good morning, sis." I greeted._

 _Yes, that person was my sister, Neptune, and the CPU of our nation, Planeptune._

 _"...?"_

 _Uh, what...?_

 _"You alright, Nepgear? You look pale."_

 _Did I really look like that? Goodness._

 _I swung my head. "N-No, I'm fine. I think I'm not yet fully awake." I said. "Goodness, I need to wash my face."_

 _"Okay, I guess you're fine."_

 _I turned back to Neptune. "What does that mean?"_

 _"It's rare for you to wake up late."_

 _"Eh?"_

 _I turned to the clock, and goodness, it was already eleven in the morning! What had happened that made me oversleep like this?! I tried to remember what happened last night..._

 _And..._

 _"...?"_

 _What...?_

 _"..."_

 _Oh, it was nothing special. I was tinkering inside my laboratory. The new parts that I ordered online arrived yesterday and I finally managed to work on upgrading my beam blade! Goodness, what a great time to be alive._

 _"A-Ah, I was just busy last night, that I lost track of the time." I said with an awkward smile._

 _Sis didn't look convinced from my excuse, which was no excuse, but nonetheless, she let go of the subject. Well, it wasn't like I was lying or anything. "Okay, sure." She said. "We're going out in a few, so better get ready!"_

 _"Uh, where are we going?" I asked. Somehow, I didn't know what sis was talking about._

 _Neptune raised an eyebrow. "Eh, you forgot? We're supposed to go do some shopping today, because tomorrow is Iffy's birthday! How could you forget?" She said as she placed her hands on her waist as she pouted. Wow, I've never seen sis pout like that before. It was cute though._

 _"..."_

 _Iffy?_

 _"..."_

 _"...Oh, yes, IF's birthday. I do remember, of course." I said as I smiled awkwardly. Well, I think I got excited last night that I couldn't sleep, and did some tinkering in my laboratory. Perfect timing of the delivery yesterday morning._

 _I might've gotten too much into it that it slipped from my mind._

 _Sis eyed me for a bit. She didn't look so convinced with my excuse. Well, I've got nothing to hide, so better come clean with it. "...It slipped from my mind... Because I was too absorbed with my late night activities..." I said as I slumped my shoulders down. I was expecting her to get mad at me, but nope, she didn't._

 _"At least you're honest with it." Sis said as she sighed in relief and then smiled at me. "Come on, we're behind schedule; we gotta give Iffy a surprise tomorrow!"_

 _"Y-Yes!"_

 **~o~O~o~**

 _"Now that we're here, I totally have no idea what Iffy likes."_

 _Really now, sis?! You were the one closest to her, and you don't even know what she liked?! Goodness!_

 _I sighed. "S-Sis, you can't be serious..." I said as I twitched_ _my eyebrow a little._

 _Neptune just grinned at me._

 _"How about you, Nepgear? Do you have any idea what could stir her inner demons?" Neptune asked._

 _Inner demons... Goodness, sis._

 _"Hmmm..." I tried to think of something. IF and I didn't really have that much time to hang out together, so her hobbies and the likes were totally unknown to me, but if I were to name just one thing that she very much liked... it would be 'those things'. 'Those things' that she always carried, and never let herself to not have one most, or all of the time._

 _And I could've sworn that she wished for a new model. And I was sure that there was this something similar which was released a few days ago._

 _"I think, she has a soft spot for smartphones." I said. Neptune's eyes sparkled as she heard what I said. Goodness, sis._

 _"Oh yeah, now that you mentioned it, I do see her carrying a lot of those things with her." Neptune said as she placed her finger on her cheek. Damn, that's cute. "They come in different pouches too, right?"_

 _I nodded._

 _Sis and I then circled around the mall, to find the perfect gift for IF. Neptune didn't really have that much familiarity with these things, so she mostly pointed out outdated models, and of course, I rejected them._

 _"Come on, Nepgear! You're so picky!" Sis pouted at me._

 _"Goodness, sis. Aren't we finding the perfect gift for IF?" I asked her._

 _Neptune narrowed her eyes as she stared at me. Did I say something wrong? "I never said such thing." She said._

 _Oh._

 _"C-Come on, Sis...! It's her birthday, you know?" I said with an awkward face. Weren't you two best buddies, sis?!_

 _Neptune sighed as she slumped her shoulders. One day, she'd know how to value gifts. And speaking of gifts, I remembered what that model that just got released a few days ago. And if we weren't going to the wrong way, that should be around..._

 _"-Here." I said out loud._

 _Sis eyed the store for a moment. "What is this place, Nepgear?"_

 _"S-Sis, there's a banner above..." I said and pointed up. The store had its named displayed above, and it said "SONERIC". "This store is the leading dealer of smartphones throughout Gamindustri. They started from Lastation, and grew bigger and bigger as their products hit and their development is fast."_

 _Neptune didn't sound interested one bit. "Eh, so their from Noire, then?"_

 _Noire...?_

 _"W-Well, you could say that..."_

 _What was that?_

 _"Anyways, let's get what we need. Iffy will be back in the Basilicom in a few hours and we wouldn't want her to arrive there before us." Neptune said as she stepped inside the store._

 _I didn't say anything and just followed her._

 **~o~O~o~**

 _"That shaved off a lot of my credits." Neptune said as she peeked in her wallet. Well, I won't say anything now._

 _"W-We split the bill so it wouldn't be that much." I said, though my mind was literally crying at the price we paid. It had a few zeroes in it that I wouldn't really want to think about that anymore. "Besides, it's for IF, so it's fine."_

 _Neptune placed her wallet back inside her pocket. "I guess so."_

 _It was already around three in the afternoon when we bought our present for IF. We couldn't afford two of these so we settled with one. Besides, it's the thought that counts, right?_

 _I hope IF would like it._

 _We walked back to the Basilicom. IF and Compa usually drops by at the Basilicom past four, as IF picks Compa up from the Nursing school first, and they leave by the evening after dinner. I wasn't really sure if I heard right before but I think the two of them were living together? Goodness, it's not my business anymore._

 _...Compa?_

 _"Nepgear?"_

 _I heard sis call out to me._

 _"Y-Yeah?" For some reason, I felt startled all of a sudden._

 _"You were spacing out a lot today. What's wrong?"_

 _Goodness, did I really now? Well, looking back, I knew to myself that I did. Because, there were sudden lapses in my thoughts... or memory, that I couldn't remember something immediately._

 _Yeah, that was totally not alright._

 _"...I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I was just thinking, that's all." I said._

 _Neptune stared at me worryingly, but she didn't pry any further. "Okay then. Let's go home now."_

 _I nodded as a response._

 _ **~o~O~o~**_

 _" _We're home!"__

 _Neptune and I entered her offce. Inside, there was Histy sorting documents on Neptune's desk. I felt bad for letting Histy do the work alone today but... knowing Sis... she wouldn't do a proper job for picking IF's gift._

 _" _Oh, Neptune, Nepgear. Welcome back." Histy said as she finished her work and floated towards us using her tome. "__ _I should be lecturing you today about me doing all of your work but, I'll let it slide."_

 _Not sure if I should be happy about that, but I sighed in relief. Neptune did the same. Either way, I knew Neptune just pumped her fists mentally._

 _"_ _So, Iffy's not back yet?" Neptune asked._

 _Histy swung her head. I wondered why._

 _" _Compa is deployed to a field rescue operation, and coincidentally, IF is on that site as well, so they might come home late." Histy said.__

 _Perfect... is what I wanted to say. But, keeping my mouth shut was the right... or rational thing to do, of course._

 _"Okay, Nepgear. You keep this hidden." Neptune said as she handed me the box, which I naturally accepted. "Since you're good at hiding things." She followed up with a wink._

 _What the hell?_

 _"Goodness, sis. W-What are you talking about now?!" I said. I could feel my cheeks burning as I tried to refute sis' words._

 _Neptune just patted my head. "I'm joking, I'm joking."_

 _It's so comforting. I didn't know why, but when she patted my head, it felt like my heart was about to burst in joy and cry in happiness. I wished that these days would last... forever._

 _Forever._

 _Forever..._

 _Forever...?_

 _"Nepgear?"_

 _I snapped out of my thoughts as I heard Neptune's call. "W-What's up?"_

 _"You're crying..." Sis said with a worried look._

 _What?_

 _I reached for my eyes, and I was indeed crying, as I felt my tears on my fingers. Why did I cry all of sudden? Was it because Neptune patted my head? No, that's so shallow, even for me._

 _Then why...?_

 _Histy could just stare at me with a confused and worried look, not bothering to say a word._

 _"I... don't know." I said._

 _"Does it hurt anywhere?" Neptune asked._

 _I just swung my head as a response. There's no pain whatsoever; I felt completely fine. Physically, that is._

 _But mentally, or spiritually, or whatever the like? Not really sure. And I wasn't going to tell them about that, of course._

 _Neptune didn't look like she believed my word, so I just gave her a reassuring smile. Her expression softened afterwards, and sighed. "Okay, I know there's something bugging your mind, but I won't pry on it anymore." She said._

 _Was I really that easy to read?_

 _"I'll be just in my room. I'll be back at dinner." I said and left them without waiting any response._

 _Like, seriously. There's something wrong with me today._

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation.

Also known as The Land of Black Regality. Factories and buildings were not very uncommon in this nation, and of course, the environment of the city wasn't really the same as the other nations. It was the symbol of the continuous development. Loud sounds of machineries, trades in every corner of the streets, and people working non-stop for further technology advancement.

Around ten in the morning, three girls were walking towards the Basilicom. Around them were people who were busy with their daily lives, but nonetheless didn't have time to not greet them. They greeted them back on their way to their destination, as a sign of acknowledgement.

After a short while, they arrived in front of their destination. They wasted zero time and immediately headed inside, to the office of the CPU residing in this nation, who was one of the three who just arrived. As they arrived to the office, they went inside and immediately locked the door, preventing anything from getting in.

"So, what are we going to do?" One of the three girls, who had a short, brown hair, with a hat, asked her other two companions. "Tell Histoire about it?"

The girl with long, blonde hair, nodded as a response. "Yes, Blanc. Nepgear is up to something, and we have to be careful."

The last girl, with long, raven hair tied in a twin-tail style, didn't say a word and just kept her mouth shut as she crossed her arms.

"How about you, Noire?" Blanc asked.

Noire just stared at Blanc before speaking. "Fine with me."

Blanc was suspicious with Noire's behavior when it comes to Nepgear. For some reason, she had a feeling that Noire was completely against this, that they should just leave Nepgear alone and do as she pleased. But of course, Blanc isn't Noire. She might've trusted Noire, Vert, and Neptune, but Nepgear's a different story. That girl had an unbelievable strength that she couldn't even imagine.

"Doesn't look like it to me." Blanc said.

Noire sighed. "Do as you wish, I might want to know what she is up to, but I won't stop her."

"Nobody said anything about stopping her." Vert said.

"Even though she might come to attack us?" Noire asked. The question wasn't just directed to Vert, but to Blanc, and most importantly, to herself. Truth to be told, she was seriously conflicted, but in the end, she wouldn't take action unless Nepgear does first. She would not engage her in any way unless the situation definitely calls for it.

"Fine. Let me borrow your telephone. I'm calling Histoire." Blanc said as she walked to the telephone, at Noire's desk. "Just don't come crying for help when you're in trouble, you hear me?"

"Come on now, Blanc..." Vert said as she interfered with the two's bickering.

"I know, I'm just kidding." Blanc said as she dialled a number. Didn't look like she was kidding to Vert, though.

Blanc waited for a few seconds for her call to be picked up. As soon as the call was answered, she heard a voice of a girl. _"Noire? What made you call here?"_

"Histoire, this is Blanc. I'm borrowing her telephone for now." The Lowee CPU answered.

 _"Blanc?"_ Histoire said. Yes, Histoire knew who the other CPUs were. Because the three nations were in a complete ceasefire, Histoire meeting the other CPUs was easy. In fact, it was Noire, Blanc, and Vert who confronted her. They wanted Planeptune to be part of the treaty as well but, knowing Nepgear, it wouldn't be an easy feat to talk to her about this, so Histoire was the person they talked to.

But of course, Histoire didn't accept the proposal. She told them that if they want Planeptune to be part of the treaty, Nepgear was the right person to talk to. And of course, that would be an impossible task for the three, so they just decided to leave Planeptune alone.

 _"If this is about the treaty, then-"_

"No, it's not about that." Blanc interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. "It's about Nepgear."

 _"What's going on?"_ Histoire asked.

Blanc gulped as she gripped on the telephone tighter. "We encountered Nepgear here in Lastation earlier, with someone we didn't know, in an underground cave we were trying to sweep."

 _"Eh?"_

That was a sound of a surprised Histoire.

"Sounds like she didn't tell you anything." Blanc said.

 _"Yes and no, she told me that she'd take care of business, but she didn't tell me any details."_

Blanc looked at her two companions. Though they couldn't hear what Blanc and Histoire was talking about, they more or less had a clue that something was going on.

"It would be better if we talk about this in person." Blanc said. "Let's meet up somewhere else."

Histoire nodded from the other side. _"To the outskirts of Planeptune, near the Lastation border, there's a village there."_

"Outskirts of Planeptune, near the Lastation border. You got it." Blanc said and put the handset down. "Alright ladies, you know where to go." She said and headed to the door, with Noire and Vert following her without question.

 **~o~O~o~**

Planeptune-Lastation Border.

Though it was almost noon, the area wasn't filled with intense heat. Many trees scattered in the place that made the air so fresh unlike in the cities. Around these outskirts, a small village was erected, and the people utilizes the natural resources. The wind was cool that one would think that winter season might be coming, despite the time of the year was almost summer.

Being in the outskirts, one might think that they would be far from civilization. But no, they weren't as far as anyone would think. The technology of course reached this place as well, just not embraced that much. The people liked the old way of living, so a mixed culture was established here.

Blanc, Noire, and Vert arrived at the said village before noontime. Histoire was nowhere to be found. Well, that was expected, since the meeting place was this village, and no specific area was mentioned. But when they were about to take a step forward, they heard a voice from behind.

"Oh? Vert is here as well?"

The three CPUs turned backwards and saw a blonde little girl sitting on a floating tome. Vert could just smile at the little girl as a response.

"Follow me." Histoire said as she floated forward, passing through the three CPUs, with them following her afterwards.

They arrived at a small diner. Since this was located in outskirts, the crowd inside wasn't that big, enough for the four of them to hold the conversation safely. They occupied a table for four and ordered something to drink. They waited for a few moments before their order arrived, and then they started their conversation,

"So, what is going now?" Histoire asked immediately after the waitress left. "You mentioned that Nepgear was in Lastation, right?"

Noire nodded. "Yes. We were trying to clear off the underground cave which was inhabited by two ancient dragons... no, the other one was a God of Fire." She said as she took a sip on her drink, which was a Darjeeling tea. "She helped us in taking down that beast."

Histoire raised an eyebrow. What she just heard was something she didn't expect from Nepgear. "She helped you?"

The three CPUs nodded. Histoire thought of something that could explain this, but nothing was formulated in her mind. "I find it unthinkable that Nepgear would help you."

"Believe me, Histoire. You're not the only one thinking that way." Blanc said and finished her drink. Just a cup of coffee, she might need some caffeine for later. "But that wasn't the reason why we came to talk to you today."

Histoire nodded. "I'm all ears."

Vert was about to say something but Noire stopped her and told her that she should better be the one explaining, since she was the one who witnessed everything with her very own eyes.

"Inside the room where we fought the God of Fire, they opened something that seemed to be a portal, since they disappeared along with it the moment we took our eyes away from them." Noire said.

Histoire nodded at every word Noire said, but noticed something unusual. "They?"

"She was with someone. I couldn't really see her face because we were too far." Noire said. "The only thing I knew is that, Nepgear's companion wears black clothes, and has a midnight blue hair."

With the information Noire gave out, Histoire could only make an "Ah" expression. "That must be Uzume."

"Uzume...?" The three CPUs said in unison.

"Uzume Tennouboshi." Histoire said. "I don't know but, she and Nepgear seem to have a long history."

The three CPUs were speechless. Histoire was hoping that that name would ring a bell to them, but it seemed like they didn't know a single clue about her, less likely know who that person was.

"But enough with Nepgear and Uzume." Histoire said as she coughed. "I want to know more about that portal you mentioned."

The three CPUs looked at each other before turning back to Histoire again. "...It would be faster if you yourself would check that place out."

Histoire didn't reply. She wanted to check it out, but she couldn't leave Planeptune, not with Nepgear's absence. She found herself stuck between two choices, but of course, her decision was made due to her sense of duty.

"I can't leave Planeptune, especially when Nepgear isn't here." Histoire said. The three CPUs frowned after hearing her answer. "...But, if what you said is true, I might be able to find traces even without me being there."

The trio's eyes widened in surprise. "You can do that?" Vert couldn't seem to believe her words.

"Yes, of course."

That answer brightened the three CPU's moods. Finally, a lead to where Nepgear had gone to and what she was planning. "Great! Then we're off to that place again."

"Hold on." Histoire stopped the three before they made their exit. "Please take this with you so you could contact me as you get there." She said and summoned an object from her tome, which seemed to be a device of sorts. It was colored in purple, and an N logo with a ring around it was carved on the back."It's good that I brought one of these."

Noire accepted the device and asked, "What's this, Histoire?"

"It's an N-Gear, a multi-purpose personal device assistant. Nepgear developed that device herself." The Planeptune Oracle said as she gave it to them with a smile. "Don't worry, there's a ton of it in the Basilicom, so one wouldn't hurt."

That statement didn't really reassure the three CPUs, but nonetheless, they made their way back to Lastation after bidding goodbye to Histoire.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation - West Wind Valley.

A place where green grasses, birds chirping, and fresh air exist. The place was truly an epitome of a healthy environment, even when inhabited by monsters. Well, there were just a lot of Dogoos and boxbirds in the area, and more or less harmless.

But beneath the grassy, peaceful environment of this place, an underground cave exists. But not just any underground caves that you'd find anywhere. That place had a violent animosity surrounding its air, as it was inhabited with monsters. The only good news was, those monsters could not reach the surface, but that didn't mean they would never reach it.

Before Noire, Vert, and Blanc entered the cave, a large herd of monsters was something they first saw. Even for them, they found it very, very unusual. Why so?

"Did this place have this number of monsters earlier?" Blanc asked as she stared at the army of beasts. That made her not want to step down in that place.

Noire clicked her tongue. "No, it didn't, and I'm pretty sure we wiped out the monsters before we encountered the God of Fire." She said.

"But, how will you explain this?" Vert asked worryingly. If worst come to worst, they would have to deal with every single monster in this place, and that's not an easy feat, even for CPUs.

Noire stood up and transformed to her HDD form. "We'll go in stealth, and if worst come to worst, we'll have to deal with it."

Blanc and Vert did the same. "Let's just hope we don't resort to that." The Leanbox CPU said as she sighed.

"You just triggered a jinx flag." Blanc said.

"Blanc, plea-"

Before Vert could refute Blanc's statement, Noire interrupted them to stop their worthless bickering. "Enough already. We don't have all day here." She said and flew down to the underground cave slowly, avoiding any attention from the scattered monsters.

Blanc and Vert glared at each other for a short moment before sighing. They then followed Noire's lead. The three flew above the sea of monsters, just about the ceiling of the cave. They had their guards up in case they run into spotters.

"Remember, just kill what you can kill." Noire whispered to the other two, in which they nodded as a reply.

Fortunately, they didn't run into any problems and reached the God of Fire's room. And fortunately once again, that was where the monsters were coming from. The source was none other than the room itself. Monsters were coming out of the door which Nepgear put a hole earlier.

"Seems like today's our lucky day." Blanc said. "But we can't get in that hole without getting spotted."

Vert grinned. "I have a perfect idea." She then flew up to the top of the door and materialized her spear. "I need your help out here, come on."

Blanc and Noire thought a thing or two about what Vert was about to do, and yes, it would be a good idea to follow her idea. They flew up to the top where Vert was and materialized their weapons as well.

"Listen here, we're going to block the way with this door by destroying it, and we'll deal with the monsters left inside." Vert explained her plan for her so-called perfect idea. Noire and Blanc could just nod and followed Vert's instructions.

Vert prepared her weapon and then stuck it on top rail of the door. She drilled it until she made a small hole it, enough for Noire's blade to fit in. She then instructed Noire to slice the concrete for Blanc's weapon to fit in. Blanc then stuck her weapon on the top rail.

"Alright, let's do this." Vert said as she called their attention. "Noire, slice to the right side, and Blanc to the left. Follow the curvature of the door. I'll cut through middle one."

The two CPUs nodded as a response.

"3... 2... 1..."

After counting to three, they then sliced the door, detaching it from the wall. The debris of the door started to fall to the ground, blocking the way and crushing the monsters under it. They sighed in relief afterwards.

"Well, that should do it." Vert said. "Perfect, isn't it?"

Noire and Blanc sweat dropped. That was hardly perfect, if they were to be frank, but of course, they still had a heart and they didn't say it in front of Vert. They didn't say a word and just went inside the room. There were still a swarm of monsters inside but if they could destroy the source, then it would be over. And so, the first thing they did was to find the source.

"That's...?" Blanc said as she pointed onto something.

Noire and Vert turned to where Blanc was pointing. From there, they saw a hole, where monsters were coming out. They just kept on coming and the room was almost full.

"Destroy it first, think later!" Vert said as she charged towards the said thing while cutting everything in her way. Noire and Blanc stared at each other before slumping their shoulders down and sighing in disbelief.

"Hiyaaahhh!" Vert's battle cries echoed inside the room as monsters were getting sliced by her spear one simultaneously, carving a path to their target. Noire and Blanc just followed Vert's lead and took care of everything that she missed. As soon Vert was nearing the target, flashes of green covered her whole body and dashed instantly forward, ripping everything into shreds.

"Spiral Break!"

Fast lightings of green covered the area, slicing everything it passed through. Noire and Blanc instinctively stepped away from her, as they knew they would end up getting sliced by her if they stayed too close.

"Not a shred of your souls shall remain!"

After a short while, Vert appeared above the monsters, just about the ceiling, and threw her spear downwards. As the spear made contact to the ground, it exploded, pulverizing every last bit of the monsters that remained.

She then sighed in relief and turned back to her companions, who were slowly floating towards her. "You sure did overdo it." Noire said as she dematerialized her weapon. "We're also here, you know."

"Now, now, it saved us a lot of energy anyway, so I wouldn't complain." Blanc said. "Though showing off like that pisses me off."

Vert just sneered at them before landing down to the ground. Down there, a broken disc was laying down on the ground where the monsters were coming from, with its fragments scattered. Noire inspected the fragments carefully by placing them back together, like a puzzle.

"This disc is a portal." Noire said. "It leads to somewhere else far away from here."

Blanc crossed her arms. "Thank you, exposition woman." She said in an uninterested manner.

Noire just glared at her. She could slit Blanc's throat any time now.

"Blanc aside, what is that thing doing here anyway?" Vert asked as she stared at the broken object for a short moment before turning to Noire. "And where did it come from?"

Noire summoned the object that Histoire gave them earlier. "Only one way to find out."

 **~o~O~o~**

 _I opened the door that leads to my room. I entered without further ado and immediately closed it, locked it as well. I leaned on it, as I took a deep breath while my eyes were closed. I opened my eyes once more, and saw what stuff I had in my room. Pretty much what anyone would see inside an average teenage girl's room. I didn't really do so much decorating but that didn't make my room any dull. At the very least, anyway._

 _I headed to the closet, and placed the box further inside it, behind my clothes. Good thing that it was already wrapped as a gift so it saved me a lot of time from doing it myself. I then closed the closet and threw myself on the bed, and sighed. For some reason, I felt very tired, despite the activity earlier not being so heavy. I rolled, and faced the ceiling. The same ceiling that I saw this morning as I woke up._

 _Silence._

 _My room was filled with silence as I closed my eyes. It felt so comforting, like I had gotten used to it already. I could wish to have an eternal-_

 _"...!"_

 _I shot my eyes open._

 _"Goodness..."_

 _Why would I wish something like that?_

 _I sat up on the bed, and sighed once more. I kept on thinking about weird things lately. The reason why? I had no clue. Not a single one. Had I gone insane already? Goodness, no. I wouldn't want to think a single bit that I had gone crazy. Well, in any case, I knew my sanity's still there._

 _I slipped out of the bed and headed to my laboratory. I should check my work last night. I knew I had completed it already, and I couldn't wait to test it, of course! Good thing I bought the VR Interface that Vert showed us before; I could do some tests on it._

 _...Vert?_

 _"Huh..?"_

 _I shook my head. Of course, it's that Vert. The CPU of Leanbox._

 _I looked for that device in my stash, which was somehow filled with random stuffs, but in an organized manner, of course! I never liked dumping things in one place, even if it's trash._

 _"Now, it should be around here somewhere... there it is." I said as I found a small, black device on top of the wall shelf. I went out of my stash room and headed back to the laboratory, which was, well, occupied by most of my tinkering tools. So much for being organized._

 _I cleaned up the lab and place my tools in their respective places and placed the VR Interface in the middle of the room. Now, before I forget, I should get my newly upgraded beam saber. Goodness, it's in my stash room as well, and why in good heavens I forgot to take it out with me. I sighed and went back to my stash room and searched for it. I found a sheath leaning on the corner of the room, which I remember placing my beam saber in it last night. I took it out with me and headed back to the lab. I reached for the VR Interface device and turned it on. My lab transformed into an open space, grassy fields in an instant._

 _"This thing never fails to impress me." I said._

 _I smiled as well. I turned my attention to the sheath on my hands. I attempted to unsheathe my blade, but my free hand froze right after I touched the handle._

 _"...What...?"  
_

 _I tried pulling it out, but I couldn't find the strength to do so. My vision was fading as well, and before it completely faded, I pulled my hand away from the handle. My heart was racing, and I felt sweaty all of a sudden, despite my lab being air conditioned._

 _"...What the... goodness... was that...?"_

 _It was like, my strength was sucked away from me. I didn't know why. Did I really make this sword?_

 _I gulped as I stared at my sheathed blade. I felt nothing but ominous feeling inside this sheath. I closed my eyes as I tried to reach the handle once more. I was ready to feel drained out again, but nothing happened as I touched the handle._

 _Now, I can finally pull this thing off._

 _I gulped. I wasn't sure if I still wanted to do this. Right when I was about to pull it out..._

 _"Nepgear? Dinner's ready!"_

 _The door opened, and sis came inside the lab. "Wow, this is Vert's VR Interface, right?!"_

 _I immediately turned to Neptune and hid the sheathed blade behind me. "Y-Yeah. I was doing some test runs on my projects, and I needed this for its battle simulation." I said. I kinda lied, but not a hundred percent._

 _"Well, I have zero idea about what you were going on about, but dinner's getting cold, so hurry up." Neptune said and she exited my lab. I sighed in relief afterwards._

 _I turned off the VR Interface, and the projection disappeared, revealing my same old laboratory. I put my blade down right beside the VR Interface and I went out of the lab._

 _I'll just check it some other time._

* * *

 **Well, that's it! Chapter 4's done.**

 **I apologize once again because I am updating so slow. I really can't do anything about it, because I'm mostly stuck by real-life stuff.**

 **Anyways! As everyone already know, I will update Memories next!**

 **Please drop your reviews/comments/questions/violent reactions! It helps me :)**

 **Until next time, see ya guys~!**


	5. Break

**Hello guys! Time for Chapter 5!**

 **This fic has already reached the point of no return! No kidding. Hue**

 **This went unexpectedly longer that I anticipated, so the updating took longer. Sorry about that. I also have some real life stuff with me dragging me to the ground, so there's that. Think of it as an apology for taking too long to update xD**

 **So, onto the chapter now, enjoy!**

* * *

"Histoire, we're here" Noire said as she turned the N-Gear on and started a conversation with Histoire, who was conveniently waiting for their call. "What should we do?"

From the N-Gear's screen, a hologram emerged from it and showed Histoire. "This is the cave that you were talking about?"

"Yes, it is." Noire said.

Histoire observed the surroundings through the N-Gear. She just successfully established an energy link between her and the N-Gear, so it would appear like she herself was in the cave. "Do you see something unusual here?"

"Well, before we got here, this place was packed with monsters." Blanc said and then picked up a shard of the broken disc. "They were coming out of this disc, which was destroyed by Vert earlier."

Histoire observed the object. The broken disc seemed familiar to her eyes, but she couldn't pin her finger on what exactly it was. She might've had to do some scanning of her tome.

"I need to analyze it, but it's going to take three hours. Are you fine with that?" Histoire warned.

Blanc seemed to be annoyed. "Can't you do it three minutes?"

"Blanc, stop it. You know consulting Histoire's manual is not an easy feat." Noire said as she crossed her arms and glared at Blanc. "I'm even surprised that it wouldn't take her three days to analyze that."

Histoire popped a nerve at that comment, but she didn't let it affect her any further. "It's because I already have some knowledge about that disc, so it would narrow my search scope."

"That's good." Noire said. "Well then, time to get some rest."

"Yes, you'll probably need a lot of energy later." Histoire said before starting the analysis.

 **~o~O~o~**

 ** _*KRIIIIIIINGGGGG*_**

 _I slowly opened my eyes as I heard my alarm clock went off. Goodness, time sure flew so fast, that it was already morning. I lazily reached for the alarm clock and turned it off, and sighed._

 _Now, I really wanted to go back to sleep, but I knew I wouldn't be able to. I just remembered something that it started to bother my mind. Like, a lot._

 _I sat up on the bed and stretched my arms up. I'm surprised that I still managed to get some good night's sleep, despite that ordeal from last night, about the sword that I developed._

 _"Oh right."_

 _Yeah, I totally wanted to test it. But today's not a good day because it's IF's birthday._

 _But... just a little, maybe?_

 _"No, no, no." I swung my head and cleared my thoughts. Testing that sword can wait, I had to do some preparations for IF's birthday._

 _Before any thoughts could cloud my decision, I immediately went out of the room and went to the kitchen. It was a little past six in the morning yet, and I was sure that Histoire would still be asleep. I had to prepare breakfast for them._

 _Oh, and bake a cake for IF as well. Goodness, there's so much to do. Good thing that IF and Compa never dropped by her by the morning, or else I wouldn't be able to move freely here._

 _"Time to get started."_

 _I took out the necessary ingredients from the fridge and started cooking breakfast._

 **-o-O-o-**

 _"All set!"_

 _The cake was well done! For one second I thought I might've messed up once again as I placed it in the oven, but it turned out fine._

 _"Now then, time to cool this." I then placed the cake in the box I prepared earlier, then put it in the fridge. IF and Compa arrives in the afternoon, and it still was morning, so that's a lot of time. I can't let it just sit at the table or else it'll spoil itself._

 _I took out my N-Gear and checked the time. It was already half past seven, which means, Histoire should be awake now._

 _I still had time before Neptune wakes up... and for the whole day. Maybe I should test it now?_

 _"No, no, no." I swung my head. "That can wait until tomorrow."_

 _Yeah, I might've said that, but it was deeply bugging me. Why did I feel weak so sudden when I touched the handle of that sword? I was sure that that upgrade was my usual upgrading, so why did that happen?_

 _There sure a lot of mystery going on here._

 _"..."_

 _I sighed. Seriously, just make up your mind, me!_

 _"...After breakfast, it is, then." I said. "...I should wake Neptune up. But..." Looking at the clock again, I doubt Neptune would wake up. "Well, then. I guess it's time to slack off- err, get some rest for now."_

 _Goodness._

 _I headed to the living room and sat down on the sofa and turned the TV on. The first program I saw was a news about the VR interface that Vert launched a few days ago, though I had a good look on it before its launch. The news seemed to be giving positive reviews about the console, and I was happy, of course. Though I wished Neptune would really start giving some efforts and create something nice, since most consoles that I got recently were from the other nations, mostly from Leanbox and Lastation._

 _Oh well, not like I can do something about it._

 _I kept my eyes on the TV and didn't notice the time._

 _"Good Morning, Nepgear."_

 _I heard a voice which took my attention away from the TV. There, I saw Histoire floating towards me. "Good Morning, Histy. Breakfast's ready."_

 _"That's so nice of you." Histoire said and smiled at me. "Though Neptune's still asleep."_

 _"She is? I'll wake her up, then." I said as I stood up and then headed towards Neptune's room._

 _I arrived at a door with a sign "Nep" written on it. I knocked on the door twice, but I got no replies. Well, Neptune was indeed sleeping. I turned the doorknob and opened the door. Surprisingly, I wasn't surprised when it was unlocked, knowing Neptune, she could be careless. I entered the room. It was dark inside; well, with the curtains closed, and lights off, I wouldn't be so surprised either. I carefully made my way to the window and opened the curtains. Sunlight then immediately illuminated the dark room, revealing my sister on the bed cuddling on a big pillow. I then sat down beside Neptune, who was snoring as she slept._

 _"Sis... Wake up. It's time for breakfast." I said as I shook Neptune, but she seemed to be not waking up. I shook harder, but still no reaction. "Sis! Wake up!"_

 _Goodness, she hardly showed any reaction._

 _"..."_

 _I sighed. I might use 'that' method, but... it would appear so cruel._

 _"..."_

 _I brought myself near Neptune and attempted to whisper to her ear but before I could say something, she mumbled something._

 _"Hnn...? Nepgear...?" She then turned to me. Goodness! She's too close! I felt my cheeks go hotter. I instinctively backed away from her. "What are you doing in my room...?"_

 _I calmed myself down before speaking. "Uh, breakfast, yeah! It's time for breakfast." Not sure if I sounded so convincing, but either way, it wasn't a lie._

 _"Okay. Give me a minute to wash my face. first." Neptune said and left the room for the bathroom._

 _I went back to the dining room. Histoire asked me about Neptune's whereabouts, and I just said that she'd be present in a few minutes, as she was washing her face. Histoire just nodded and sat down on her chair. I did the same as we waited for Neptune's arrival._

 ** _~o~O~o~_**

 _"Thanks for the food."_

 _I took care of the plates as we finished our breakfast._

 _"Nepgear, Histy, I'll be about for a while." Neptune said as she headed for the door. "I'll be back before or after lunchtime."_

 _I dried my hands after washing the plates with a towel. "Where are you off to, sis?"_

 _"Gamezone. There's still a lot of time before Iffy arrives, and we're good for the decorations and stuff, so I need a past time activity." Neptune said as she grinned at me. "There's also newly released games in there. Wanna come with me?"_

 _That... sounded tempting, but I've got something to do. "I, uh, would love to, but I have something to do in my lab." I said._

 _"I see. That's too bad then." Neptune said. "I'll be going now, see ya later." She said and went out of the dining room._

 _Both Histy and I just stared at the door where Neptune exited and sighed. To be honest, I really envied Neptune's carefree attitude. I was so caught in my thoughts that I didn't even notice that Histy was hollering at me._

 _"...Nepgear?"_

 _I snapped out of my thoughts after that call. "Y-Yeah? What's up...?"_

 _"I said I'm going back to my office." Histy said. She had this worried look on her face, though I understood why she made a face like that._

 _I nodded. "Alright. I'll be in my lab. Just ring me up if you need help." I said._

 _Histoire nodded and smiled at me. She then left the room and headed to her office, leaving me alone in the dining room. I wasted zero time and headed to my lab._

 _Alright, first things first. Set the VR interface up. Good thing I left it along with the blade on the floor, so it saved me from looking for it again. I made sure that it had enough battery left before powering it on. In an instant, my dimmed lab transformed into a grassy field. I saw my blade on the ground, just a few feet away from me. Now that I've seen it again, I felt nervous all of a sudden. Goodness, can't I just get over with this?_

 _"Haah..." I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I walked towards it and knelt as I got close. I took the sheathed blade, and fortunately, nothing happened. I sighed in relief. Okay, time to test this thing off!_

 _"..."_

 _I pulled the blade, and-_

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 **...!**

 _"Happy Birthday, Iffy!"_

 _Confetti was popped after IF entered the living room. She looked so funny, as there were a lot of it sticking on her head after the surprise._

 _I blinked twice._

 _"What..." IF was confused and surprised._

 _"It's your birthday today, remember?" Neptune said as she revealed a box on her hands. That was the gift that we bought yesterday._

 _IF face palmed after hearing that. "Oh, shucks. I totally forgot." She said as she accepted the gift. Wait, did she really just forget her birthday?_

 _Speaking of forgetting... Uh..._

 _"You're so focused on your work. We had a hunch that you might've forgotten this day." Compa said as she walked behind IF and pushed her near where the cake was. "And yep, you really did."_

 _IF blushed in embarrassment after seeing the cake. "So that's why you left me earlier."_

 _"Ehehe, to give you a surprise!"_

 _I stared at the scene playing in front of me. There was... something wrong. Though I wasn't sure what that is. I turned to my left and saw Histoire smiling. I turned to my right and saw Neptune in the kitchen, seemingly looking for something._

 _Uh..._

 _"Nepgear, are you okay?" I heard Histy whisper in my ear. I turned to her, but I didn't have an answer to reply back, and that worried her. "You look pale."_

 _Goodness, did I now? Now that she mentioned it, I felt lightheaded all of a sudden._

 _"N-No, I'm fine... is what I wanted to say but..." I said as I turned my attention to IF, who was having fun with Compa, and Neptune came back with a tray of pudding. They then offered the cake to IF to blow the candle on top of it. "We can't have this celebration interrupted because of me."_

 _"Happy Birthday again, Iffy!" We clapped in unison as IF blew the candle._

 _Histy didn't seem to be pleased with my answer, but she didn't pry on it either. She knew well that this was a special day for IF._

 _"Let's take a picture!" Compa said as she took out her camera and the tripod from her bag. "A picture to commemorate Iffy's birthday!"_

 _The brunette blushed. "C-Compa, you're overexaggerating..."_

 _"What are you saying, Iffy?! You only get to do this once a year!"_

 _IF couldn't argue with that. She slumped her shoulders in defeat and just let Compa do her thing. After Compa set the camera up, she called us to stand beside IF as she held on the cake. The camera was set on a ten-second timer before it takes a photo._

 _"Give it your best smile, girls!"_

 _The camera flashed. My vision went white for a moment, and without me knowing it, I never remembered what I had forgotten. And not long after that, the peace that we had been enjoying was over._

 **~o~O~o~**

"Analysis complete."

Noire instinctively opened her eyes when she heard Histoire's voice from the N-Gear. She was taking a light nap, so it was easy for her to hear Histoire's voice. Blanc was lucky to have a book with her, though it was weird to bring one when they were about to sweep through this dungeon. As for Vert, well, she practically had nothing to do, so she just took a nap. Truth to be told, she needed it the most among the three because, well, knowing her hobbies and stuff. And she didn't wake up, even after Histoire's call.

Blanc closed her book in an instant and shook Vert to wake up the sleeping CPU up. Vert slowly opened her eyes, with her thoughts wandering somewhere far away.

"Wake up, sleepyhead." Blanc said as she hit Vert's forehead lightly.

Vert blinked twice before realizing that she was already awake. "Is it done yet...?"

"You took a very deep sleep. What were you even doing in these past few days?" Blanc asked.

The blonde CPU just averted her eyes from Blanc. "You don't need to know."

Blanc didn't really like that answer.

"Alright, enough with that." Noire said as she shut the up. "Histoire, what did you find?"

After a few seconds, Histoire revealed something from the N-Gear. "Take a look at this." Her hologram then disappeared as something appeared on the screen.

The three CPUs turned their eyes to the N-Gear. From its screen, a series of two-digit number combinations was displayed. They had no idea what those numbers mean, so they asked Histoire about it.

"This is a dimensional coordinate." Histoire said through the N-Gear. The three CPUs was surprised. "I virtually restored the disc by copying and transforming the fragments into a digital signal."

"So, in other words, the coordinates is where the monsters were coming from?" Noire asked.

Histoire's hologram appeared again. "Yes, that is correct." She said as she nodded.

The three CPUs exhaled as their expressions turned into a serious one. They all had the same thoughts about this and thought of the action needed to be done. In a nutshell, they wanted to explore the said dimension, and Histoire knew it well.

Histoire sighed.

"I know what you three are thinking, and I won't stop you." Histoire said. "But, please, as soon as danger poses, I want all of you to pull back at once."

"What about Nepgear?" Blanc asked. "Despite being low, there's still a chance that we might encounter her."

Histoire was silent. Yes, she did know that they may really encounter Nepgear later on, but she hadn't really given much thought about it. Now that the question had been asked, she was forced to think about it. What should they do if they encounter Nepgear? Bring her back? What if she didn't want to go back?

More importantly, _how_ would Nepgear act if she saw Noire, Blanc, and Vert?

It was dangerous enough to step into an unknown dimension, let alone the three of them encountering Nepgear.

"I... don't know." Histoire said. "How I could wish that you three should not take long and return back here, but I have no control of your actions and you yourselves decide for your fates."

Noire sighed. "There's no helping it. We should find out the source of those pesky monsters, especially that God of Fire, and we'll just deal with it if we meet Nepgear."

"You don't think that Nepgear caused all of this?" Vert asked.

"No." Noire said as she swung her head. "Remember that Planeptune also had a God of Fire under their soil. And she wouldn't be that stupid to summon something like that and kill it herself; that's practically a waste of time and energy."

Vert didn't reply. Noire had a point, and even Blanc agreed to it. Anyhow, these monsters were aberrants, so there's no need to put the blame on someone.

"If there's nothing to talk about anymore, I'll open up a portal to that dimension through the N-Gear." Histoire said.

"You can do that?" Blanc asked, seemingly surprised.

Histoire nodded. "Yes, but I only learned it recently. It took me three days though." She said.

"Not surprising."

Histoire then coughed to get everyone's attention. "Anyways, please lay down the N-Gear." She ordered. Noire complied and placed the N-Gear on a stable ground. Histoire raised her arms, and the N-Gear emitted strong energy waves. The energy that was coming out formed a circle and ultimately created a portal.

"I used a portion of Planeptune's shares to create this portal." Histoire said as she lowered her arms. "I can keep this up for a day or two but I would very much appreciate it if you come back fast."

Noire stared at the portal, and then looked to Histoire after a short while. She didn't understand something though, so she went ahead and asked it.

"Why are you doing this, Histoire?" She asked. "You do know well that Nepgear will have your head if she finds out that you're aiding us."

"She won't." Histoire said immediately. "Even though you see Nepgear like that, she's not the type of person that would murder indiscriminately."

The three was silent. Neither of them knew Nepgear that well, so they had no right to judge Histoire's answer, who was the closest to Nepgear above everyone else in Gamindustri. Yet, they still couldn't believe it.

"Anyway, you three should get going." Histoire said. "I pray for your safe return."

The three nodded at each other and then stepped into the portal. Afterward, they disappeared, but the portal remained intact. Histoire remotely put the N-Gear on sleep to save its battery as it was left on the ground near the portal.

 **~o~O~o~**

Planeptune - Basilicom.

Inside a certain room, a bright, shining crystal that takes on a shape of a power button, was floating in the middle. Beside it was a blonde little girl sitting on a floating tome, staring at the said crystal. She sighed as she placed the object in her hands, which was also an N-Gear, on her lap. The device was in sleep mode, to save its energy.

She was at unease. Sending the CPUs of other nations to an unknown dimension. If that wouldn't turn out well, she would be responsible for all of the mess that could happen.

"...No, I can't think like this. They will come back safe."

Though that was all she could hope for.

 **~o~O~o~**

"Oi, are we there yet?" Blanc said as her pace slowed for a bit. "We've been walking for a while, and I haven't seen a sign of the end of this passage."

Noire and Vert thought of the same. Their feet was starting to feel hot, but they still couldn't see the exit. It has been a while since they entered this portal, probably around forty-five minutes ago? They couldn't tell. They didn't have any clock nor timer with them.

"Blanc, save your breath and just keep walking." Noire said. "You'll just get tired quickly if you keep talking."

Blanc clicked her tongue. She didn't have a reply for that because she knew that among all of them, she had the least stamina. And getting angry over this situation would only exhaust her faster.

"Don't worry, Blanc. I'll carry you if the need arises." Vert said as she gave the short CPU a smile.

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"Aww, here I am trying to be nice and all."

Noire sighed. She couldn't stand seeing those two. She didn't know why she was feeling unpleasant whenever Blanc and Vert were having a nice conversation. She couldn't understand a thing. Was it because she was never the social type person? Probably, but she was sure that it wasn't the case.

But then, an image suddenly flashed in her mind.

"...!" Noire rubbed her temples with her right hand.

'Why... would I think of-'

Before Noire could finish her thoughts, Vert stepped in front of her and stopped her. "Noire, are you alright?"

Noire just stared at Vert. She blinked twice before lightly shoving Vert away. "I'm fine, I was just thinking about something." She replied and continued her walk.

Blanc and Vert could just stare at Noire as they resumed their walk. They knew nothing of what's inside Noire's mind. She had been the most passive one when it comes to Nepgear, or whenever Planeptune was involved.

"..."

Silence veiled the atmosphere as they walked. After a few minutes, they finally saw a light from afar. They looked at each other and nodded and ran towards it. As they reached the end of the passageway, what surprised them was the view they saw before their eyes.

"What..."

"...in the world..."

"...is this place?"

Noire, Blanc, and Vert couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Is this... for real?" Noire asked, particularly to herself.

"No shit..." Blanc was indifferent.

Vert was rendered speechless. A world in ruins was the thing they saw as they stepped in this dimension. Floating boulders, destroyed buildings, cracked skies, wormhole-like thing in the skies, and anything beyond normality could be seen anywhere they turn their eyes to. They could see monsters scattered on the floating boulders, and some of them were falling down into the abyss.

"...Let's investigate this area quickly and get out of here." Noire said as she activated her HDD form. "This place is giving me the creeps."

The other two CPUs did the same. "I couldn't agree more." Blanc said. "We now know that this place is the source of those monsters, so a quick survey will do."

They then flew away from their position. They ran their eyes around as they flew, inspecting anything unusual... aside from the whole area being unusual, of course. They had been flying for almost half an hour, but nothing worth mentioning was seen by their eyes.

"There seem to be no humans inhabiting this place." Blanc said as she stopped in her tracks. "Otherwise, we would've seen one already earlier."

Vert agreed. If anything, they assumed that this place is devoid of people. Just when they were about to decide to go back...

"Hey, look at that." Noire said as she pointed at something.

Blanc and Vert turned their eyes to where Noire was pointing. From there, they could see some sort of castle, which was in borderline good condition. For a world in ruins, seeing something in a good condition was definitely unusual.

"Looks like someone is keeping that place clean." Blanc said. "Let's check it out."

Noire and Vert nodded with Blanc and they headed towards the castle. Good thing that it's not surrounded by any monsters, so their landing was safe. The castle seemed to be bigger when closer. They observed their surroundings and deemed that the outside was safe.

"So, let's get in?" Blanc asked.

They readied their weapons as they opened the enormous door. The indoors were dark, only lighted up by torches. The place seemed to be very old like it was built thousands of years ago. They wandered aimlessly because they had no idea where each corridor was leading to, and checking every door, but most of them were locked.

They arrived at another door. Noire pushed the door lightly, and it opened. She peeked inside, but couldn't see anything clear. She then opened the door completely, and she saw a silhouette of a person in the middle of the room. Because the room was dimmed, she couldn't see that person clearly.

"Hey!" Noire called out as she readied her weapon. Blanc and Vert did the same to prepare for possible dangers.

The person turned to them, and suddenly, the torches in the room suddenly lit up, revealing the person's light red hue and long, dark blue hair. Her attire is inverted and covered more of her body, being black with accents of pale gray and indigo.

"You..." Noire said as she saw who that person was. "You're... Uzume, right?"

The person named Uzume was slightly surprised. "I was wondering who opened a portal to this dimension, but seeing you three, it couldn't be anyone than Histoire, I see."

"Where is Nepgear?" Noire asked as she held her sword tighter.

Uzume was disappointed. "Lower down your weapons, girls. I'm not your enemy." Uzume said.

The three CPUs eyed Uzume for a moment before lowering their weapons down. Uzume sighed in relief as they did so.

"So, are you going to answer my question?"

Uzume walked towards them and stopped in front of Noire. She stared at the Lastation's CPUs eyes, then turned to the Lowee's CPUs', and ultimately to Leanbox's CPUs'. Uzume turned around and walked away from them. "What are you going to do once you find Nepgear? Stop whatever she's planning to do?"

The three CPUs raised their weapons once more as they felt threatened all of a sudden by Uzume's words, and Uzume knew what they just did, but she just ignored it.

"What is she planning to do?" Noire asked.

Uzume placed her right hand on her hips. "I won't tell you anything." She said. In an instant, Noire dashed to Uzume, attempted to slash her down, but Uzume easily blocked the attack with her left index finger.

"Wha-?" Noire was surprised.

Afterward, Uzume grabbed on the blade and crushed it in mere seconds. Noire was surprised more as her blade shattered into pieces. She backed away from Uzume afterward and went back to her comrades.

"This is why I told you to lower your weapons down." Uzume said as she sighed in disappointment.

The three CPUs sweat dropped as they witnessed Uzume's display of power. They knew to themselves that they wouldn't stand a chance against her. She's too powerful for them. All they could do was glare at Uzume.

"Please don't look at me like that. You brought it to yourselves." Uzume said. "In any case, Nepgear is right here, sleeping, but her dream is manifesting somewhere in this world."

The three CPUs looked around the room, but there were no signs of Nepgear being here.

"What do you mean? I don't see Nepgear anywhere." Vert said.

"You can't see her right now. She's in deep slumber, and only she herself can wake herself up." Uzume said. "It was her choice, by the way. I didn't force her or anything."

Noire didn't look surprised at all after Uzume said that. "Yeah, I know. You were with her earlier as you opened the portal in Lastation. " She said. "Though what bothers me is why would she put herself to sleep."

"You'll see when you see her dream." Uzume said and smiled at them. "If you want to see it, that is. Though I think she's waking up sooner or later."

The three CPUs looked at each other. Uzume knew that they wanted to see Nepgear's dream, but it seemed like they were after Nepgear herself, so they were kind of conflicted if they should go or wait for Nepgear to wake up. Either way, if Nepgear wakes up before they could find where her dream manifests, it would be all pointless.

"...It would be a bad idea if Nepgear finds us here, so we better head back." Noire said.

Blanc and Vert tried to protest, but they knew what would happen if Nepgear woke up and they were here because this area seemed to be a secret only between her and Uzume. So, they had no choice but to keep their mouths shut and follow Noire's lead.

"Good choice. I was about to tell you the same thing." Uzume said as she gave them a thumbs up.

"But, can you tell us later what happens after Nepgear wakes up?"

Uzume swung her head. "Sorry, no can do."

Noire bit her lip. Looks like Uzume's dedicated to Nepgear, and they wouldn't be able to spring out some answers from her. The three CPUs then left the room. Uzume stared at the door for a while before turning around.

"Now, then, what's going to happen next, Nepgear?"

 **~o~O~o~**

"Are you sure that we should leave now? Blanc said as they flew in mid-air.

Noire didn't say anything. Truth to be told, she really wanted to know what Nepgear's dream was. That way, they might have a clue about what she was up to. It was either they waited for her to wake up, or find where her dream was manifesting.

Noire stopped her flight. Vert and Blanc did the same.

"Do you want to look for where her dream is?" Noire asked as she turned around and faced them.

"What's with the sudden change of heart?" Vert asked.

Noire sighed. She gotta be honest with herself, she really wanted to know what Nepgear was thinking. Maybe that way, she could understand her more, and finally fulfill Neptune's request. "Truth to be told, I also want to know what Nepgear is up to."

Blanc and Vert stared at each other for a moment before turning back to Noire. "So, where do we start?"

"That's the problem." Noire said. "We don't know where her dream is manifesting, and this dimension is big as hell. I am not sure if we could find it before she wakes up."

True. Since Uzume said that Nepgear's waking up soon, they had very little time to look for it. Unless they find a very convenient clue would present itself to them, then maybe that would be changed.

"Hey, look at that." Blanc said as she flew past Noire and pointed onto something down a certain land. From down there, a dark vortex was circling around. "Could that be it?"

Well, that was indeed convenient.

"Only one way to find out." Noire said. "Let's go."

The three CPUs flew down to the said land and landed on the ground safely. The vortex was a little larger when viewed close. It was moving at a very slow pace in a circular pattern. They walked closer to it, and suddenly, the vortex reacted to their presence and glowed.

"Wha-?"

They covered their eyes as the vortex exploded and filled the area with white.

 **~o~O~o~**

"What in good heavens...?"

Vert slowly opened her eyes. Her vision still was not working properly because of the blinding light she just experienced, but it was slowly getting better. "Blanc? Noire?" She called.

"We're here." Vert turned around and saw her two companions, who was not really in a different state as her. "Where are we?" Blanc asked.

They observed their surroundings and found out that they were in a different place. Green grasses, a nice view of the skies from where they are, and fresh air. The sun was up in the skies, with birds flying to wherever they were headed. An environment of peace.

"Seems like we got transported to Nepgear's dream." Noire said. "Otherwise, we still would be in that dimension." She then touched the ground and pulled some grass. Surprisingly, she managed to pull some of it. "And it seems like we can interfere in this dream."

"So, we have a chance of stopping Nepgear from accomplishing whatever she was trying to accomplish?" Blanc asked.

"Yes, but no, we are not doing that." Noire said as she crossed her arms. "Who knows what would happen to her if we crash her dream. I can only imagine the worst things."

Blanc was silent. Noire had a point, though she didn't know why she was so concerned with Nepgear. While yes, she's Neptune's kid sister, but that didn't mean that she was someone to be let loose.

"I agree with Noire." Vert said. "I think it's already sufficient that we just observe. We can learn a lot from it."

"Oh, come on, not you too, Vert." Blanc slumped her shoulders and sighed in defeat. She wouldn't have a say anymore, now the odds weren't in her favor.

Noire walked past by the two and levitated in mid-air. "Enough chit-chat. We're not going to find Nepgear if we stay here."

Blanc grumbled before complying with Noire's orders. The three of them raised their altitude to get a better look of the place. It was completely unfamiliar to them, though they had a feeling that this place was Gamindustri. They didn't know why they felt like that, they just did, for some reason.

"So, where are we headed?" Blanc asked.

Noire pointed to the tall tower from afar. "See that? That must be Planeptune's Basilicom. We're going there."

"That tower IS A BASILICOM?!" Blanc didn't look prepared to hear that fact. It looked very different and grand from Planeptune's Basilicom back in their dimension. More importantly, Planeptune didn't look the same as theirs.

"Yes, it looked so oddly different compared to the infrastructures around it." Vert said as she pointed to several buildings. Blanc took a look around her, and yes, the commercial buildings looked normal, like they had back in their dimension.

Noire stopped her flight, which made Vert and Blanc stop as well. She took a look around her and noticed something odd.

"The people seemed restless..." Noire mumbled to herself.

"What's wrong?" Vert asked.

Noire didn't reply, and instead, she lowered her altitude, ultimately landing on a ground without people. The other two CPUs followed her but didn't bother questioning Noire again. Noire gestured at them to stay here and then she took a peek out of the alleyway. After a short while, she went back.

"We need to disguise ourselves." Noire said.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Blanc asked. "And how are we going to do that? Put some glasses on?"

"Just anything that can hide our identities. The people seemed like they could recognize us." Noire said as she noticed that people were staring at them earlier. Her body then glowed, and her clothes were changed. She was now wearing a white tank top under a gray cardigan, paired with tight jeans and black semi-high heels. Her hair was tied by two red and black ribbons in a twin-tail style while maintaining her HDD form.

"I guess I should've seen that coming." Blanc said as she sighed. Her body then glowed, and after a few minutes, her clothes changed as well. She was now wearing a white and blue sailor uniform, paired with a cap with the same color, plus a small ribbon was attached on its left side and a large one on her torso. She was also wearing white high socks and a pair of black shoes. In a nutshell, a set of school uniform.

Vert chuckled a little. "A school uniform, really?"

"Hmph, let's see what you got, thunder tits."

Vert grinned at Blanc. "I'll be sure to impress you with my looks." Her body then glowed.

Noire sighed in disappointment. "What kind of shit show did I just walk myself into..." She mumbled to herself.

As the light that covered Vert's body disappeared, her clothes had changed. She was wearing a white blouse, with a portion of yellow shirt under it which appears on her collarbone. She was also wearing a short, tight black skirt with its length just above her knee, and a pair of white high heels. Additionally, she was also wearing a pair of glasses, for intelligence points.

"You gotta be shitting me, Vert." Blanc said as she saw her outfit.

"We're a match, right?" Vert playfully said and winked at Blanc.

It looked like Blanc was about to smack Vert on the head, but she held herself back."You're doing this on purpose, aren't 'ya?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Vert said. "I'm a teacher, and you're a student. That's all there is to it." She continued.

Noire face palmed as she watched the two bicker among themselves, but under her hand, a sad look was hidden. She couldn't calm her inside feelings as her chest was in pain. She wanted to question herself why she was feeling like that, but deep inside, she already knew why. It had been so long already...

"So, are you going to stay like that? Because I'm leaving you two if you will." Noire said as she tried to get the attention of the two. "You can continue your lover's quarrel when we get back."

"WE ARE NOT LOVERS!" The two CPUs said in unison.

"Yes, yes, whatever." Noire said as she shrugged. Though she was surprised how synchronized the two were.

Vert and Blanc then fell silent. They knew that Noire didn't believe them.

 **~o~O~o~**

After a short walk, they arrived at their destination, the tall tower in the center of the city. It looked way bigger when up close, but that wasn't the concern of the three CPUs right now. They didn't take more than a minute admiring the tower before entering. The reception was not too far away from the entrance and the first objective they had was to find Nepgear.

The three CPUs walked towards the reception to get some information. "Is the CPU in?" Noire asked politely, with Blanc and Vert just stayed behind her.

The receptionist eyed them for a few seconds before answering. "A-Ah, no, L-Lady Neptune is not here. She went outside with Lady Nepgear; they've been out for a while now." The receptionist said. His lips were shaking as he spoke, somehow jumbling his words. "T-They seem to be in a not-so-good condition as they went out."

"You don't look too different." Noire said. Despite her calm demeanor, Noire was utterly surprised when she heard the name "Neptune".

"A-Ah, yeah... It can't be helped..." The receptionist said as he slumped his shoulders. "There has been a series of quakes earlier... which seemed to originate from Gamindustri Graveyard, so-" He was about to complete his sentence when suddenly his companion elbowed him in his gut.

"You fool! Why are you telling civilians about that?!" The other guy whispered though Noire clearly heard it.

"A-Ah... Hahaha..."

Noire sighed in disappointment, but what the receptionist just said bugged her too much. She turned to Blanc and Vert, who had this uneasy expression painted on their faces. Gamindustri Graveyard was something that didn't have any good vibes in it, whichever way they try to imagine it.

"Don't worry, I didn't even get to hear what he said clearly." Noire said and faked a sigh of disappointment. "You better learn to calm the heck down."

The receptionist nodded nervously, The three CPUs then went out of the Basilicom, and the moment they stepped outside, Noire turned to Vert and Blanc. "You heard that?"

Blanc and Vert nodded. "Yeah, can't be mistaken." Blanc said. "Though that Gamindustri Graveyard thingy isn't really to my liking."

"Neither of us do." Vert interjected. "In any case, I don't think we have the means of finding that place. It wouldn't be called a graveyard named after Gamindustri if it can be accessed by anyone."

"But we're not just anyone, Vert." Blanc said. Vert didn't have a reply to that because Blanc had a point. They weren't indeed just anyone. They were CPUs, for Celestia's sake.

But to Noire, it didn't seem to be that case. "I would agree with Vert on this one." Noire said. "Either way, we indeed have no way of finding that place, and we can't just ask civilians about it, judging from what the two people from earlier just acted."

"Yes, it seemed like they were trying to hide it." Vert said.

Noire nodded in agreement, while Blanc just kept silent. But yes, she agreed to it as well. She was also listening to the conversation earlier.

"So, what's the plan? We won't get anywhere if we stay here." Blanc asked. "I think we should-"

Before Blanc could finish her sentence, the ground shook violently that they almost lost their balance. They instinctively grabbed on to something sturdy and avoided anywhere near falling debris. The people immediately went to an open space, away from possible dangers. It lasted for around a minute, but surprisingly, only a few buildings were affected by the tremor, and the Basilicom's completely unaffected. Most of the infrastructures were intact but still damaged a little nonetheless. And everywhere was covered in dust.

"He wasn't kidding when he said that there were quakes earlier." Noire said, looking displeased on what they got themselves into. "And it's shaky."

"No shit, sherlock." Blanc said.

Vert was rendered speechless.

"So, let's track down that tremor?" Noire suggested. She wasn't sure why did she say that, but it was better than doing nothing.

Vert finally calmed herself down after taking a few deep breaths. "Yes, it should be wise to do that."

"How about you, Blanc?"

The Lowee CPU didn't answer Noire's question. She was staring at the skies, for some reason. "No need for that." Blanc said.

Vert and Noire raised an eyebrow. They then turned their attention to where Blanc was looking and was surprised to see what, or _who_ _were_ up there. They saw two people flying in the skies, seemingly heading somewhere.

"Well, that was convenient." Noire said as she sighed in relief. "Let's get to work, then."

The three CPUs nodded and each other and followed the trail of their target.

 **~o~O~o~**

 _"..."_

 _I looked at the person beside me. My sister, Neptune. She didn't have the face of someone who was feeling happy. Of course, after what_ we just did _, how can anyone feel happy about it?_

 _"Sis..."_

 _"Don't, Nepgear." Neptune interrupted me. "For the sake of everyone, do not waver now." She said without even looking at me._

 _I bit my lip. The memory of what_ we just did _was still fresh. Even if I wanted to forget that, I couldn't, and I never would._

 **~o~O~o~**

 ** _"Someone has to take up this sword... the sword that powers up... when it takes the life of the goddesses..."_**

 ** _"Even Blanc and Vert... must've felt the same..."_**

 ** _My tears were falling, as I had my hands gripped on 'the sword', with it stabbed directly at someone's chest. That someone wasn't just anyone; it was the CPU of Lastation..._**

 ** _"Noire...!" I cried. She had me forced to stab her with the sword._**

 ** _Noire coughed up more blood. She was going to die._**

 ** _She was going to die..._**

 ** _She was going to die..._**

 ** _"Don't ever regret... this turn of events..." Noire said as she coughed more blood. "It's... for the sake... of Gamindustri..."_**

 ** _Light then suddenly blinded my eyes, and as it died down, Noire disappeared. Her life was taken by 'the sword'._**

 ** _"Noire...?" My sister, Neptune, who was beside me, called, but she got no replies._**

 ** _My heart raced. It raced that I was almost out of breath._**

 ** _I killed her._**

 ** _I killed Noire._**

 ** _"I killed her... Noire..." My hands were shaking as I stared at 'the sword'._**

 ** _I heard a hiss from nearby. It was coming from Noire's sister, Uni, who was glaring at me sharply that it could almost pierce my body. "Nepgear..."_**

 ** _I tried to give all the excuse I could, but Uni did not give a crap about my words._**

 ** _"My sister did this on her own accord." She said. Her words felt so heavy. Even though I knew that Noire forced me to stab her, I still was the one who stabbed her. "It's my turn now."_**

 ** _"What...?" Did she mean...?_**

 ** _"I won't stab myself like she did." She said as she resolved herself. I could see her eyes burning with anger. "You will do it. You will take my life, here."_**

 ** _I panicked. "W-What...?! That's... no, I can't do it...!"_**

 ** _"Don't be a candy-ass after coming this far...! You started it... and you must finish it...!" She said as she grabbed my shoulders. "Show me your will to win. Aren't you going to save Gamindustri? Or are you going to let my sister's sacrifice be in vain?!"_**

 ** _That's... Why...? Why did it turn out like this? Why did I have this sword with me, to begin with?_**

 ** _"No kidding. It's not like I wanted to ask you to do it. But who else could?!" Uni gripped tighter on my shoulder, almost crushing my bones. "Finish what you've started!"_**

 ** _It's not right... why... why did this happen...?_**

 ** _"...Ngh... Yaaaaahhhh...!"_**

 **~o~O~o~**

 ** _"...I am well-prepared for this... the moment we left your Basilicom... Plus..."_**

 ** _"This might be for the best. My sisters don't need to go through all the pain you two will experience..."_**

 ** _I stared at Blanc. The pain in my chest... I couldn't take it anymore. Her twin little sisters were embracing her, telling her to not leave them._**

 ** _"Don't be sad, we're all going to go." Blanc said as she embraced her sisters back. "Act like CPUs to your final moments..."_**

 ** _I was speechless. Even in their final moments, Blanc stood there, dignified. My hands were shaking as I held on 'the sword'. I couldn't do it. Even though I took Noire's and Uni's lives, I still wasn't resolved to do this!_**

 ** _"Nepgear, give me the sword. I'll do it." My sister, Neptune, said as grabbed onto my hands. I deliberately let go of 'the sword', and Neptune took it from me._**

 ** _Blanc then gently pushed her sisters away from her who was still trying to not let go of her, but they eventually gave up. She then turned to Neptune. "Do it quickly, Neptune. I might get nervous if you hesitate."_**

 ** _Neptune bit her lip. "I promise I'll work hard, on your and Noire's behalf."_**

 ** _"I can't believe this..." Blanc said as she smiled weakly. "That I'm leaving Gamindustri's fate to you."_**

 ** _Neptune's tears fell. "Of course...!"_**

 ** _In a heartbeat, Neptune pushed 'the sword' directly towards Blanc's chest. Her white clothes were instantly stained with blood as the sword pierced her body._**

 ** _"Heh... just a sting of a mosquito..."_**

 ** _Blanc's body then glowed, and as it died down, Blanc was no longer with us._**

 ** _"No...!"_**

 ** _"No, Rom...! We have to stay strong...!"_**

 ** _The twin sisters embraced each other as they watched Blanc disappear before their eyes. I just stood my ground, speechless, with my heart nearly breaking apart._**

 ** _"I'm sorry... I really am sorry...!" Neptune's tears fell down from her eyes, and dropped to 'the sword'._**

 ** _I turned to the twins, who was staring at me. "Hurry up." The one in pink, Ram, said._**

 ** _"Are you sure...?" I asked. I knew I shouldn't have asked that because it sounded stupid at this point of time._**

 ** _"Don't give us a choice, dummy! You already took our big sister away from us...!" Ram angrily said._**

 ** _I then took 'the sword' back from Neptune, who was still crying at Blanc's death. "Alright... I'll do it..."_**

 ** _"No...I don't wanna die..." Rom clutched on her twin sister's torso._**

 ** _My heart was breaking, but I couldn't let it shatter. I had a job to do. For everyone's sake._**

 ** _"I'm... too... scared...!"_**

 ** _"No...! Don't cry...! Because if you do... I might cry as well..."_**

 ** _"I'm scared... Blanc... Waaaahhh...!"_**

 ** _"I don't wanna die either! I'm scared...! Waaaahhh...!"_**

 ** _Their cries echoed in my ears. But, what can I do? "I'm sorry, Rom, Ram... But I have to...!"_**

 ** _All I could do was apologize, even though it was completely useless. I couldn't do it when they're crying like that._**

 ** _"I'm feeling... okay now..." Rom said as her cries died down along with Ram's._**

 ** _"Are you sure...? I mean..."_**

 ** _Ram interjected before I could finish my sentence. "Please, just do it! Before we get scared again..."_**

 ** _"We're CPUs too... It's for Gamindustri's sake, right...?" Rom asked me._**

 ** _All I could say was, "Yes... I'm sorry...!"_**

 ** _I pushed 'the sword' to their chests, piercing them at the same time._**

 ** _"Ngh...!"_**

 ** _"Nrghk!"_**

 ** _Their coats were drenched in blood as 'the sword' struck them both._**

 ** _"Rom... we're together... so... it's no scary... right...?"_**

 ** _"Ram... please... hold my hand... I want to hold yours..."_**

 ** _"Yes... I'll never... let it go..."_**

 ** _"Thank... you..."_**

 **~o~O~o~**

 ** _"Not the outcome that I expected... to be taken down by a mere underling..."_**

 ** _"Don't talk right now, Vert!" Neptune said._**

 ** _Vert grimaced. "There is... no need. I could feel my life fading away... I won't survive this..."_**

 ** _"Don't give up now, Vert!"_**

 ** _I just stood there and watched them. Vert was badly wounded. After our fight earlier, we left her wounded, but then Underling came and took advantage of powerlessness._**

 ** _"Now, now, I know it's too late but, please, finish me off with that sword..." Vert said as she pointed at 'the sword' in my hands._**

 ** _"B-But...!"_**

 ** _She didn't even let Neptune say a word. "Dying in vain doesn't sit well with me..." She said weakly. "At the very least, put my death to good use. Please, Neptune... do this for me..."_**

 ** _Neptune clenched her fists. "Nepgear. Give me the sword."_**

 ** _"But... I..." No more of this... please..._**

 ** _But still, I gave 'the sword' to Neptune. Because deep inside me, we had to do this. We had to finish what we started. If we falter now, then Gamindustri would be all on its demise._**

 ** _"Thank you..." Vert smiled weakly at us. Her smile was breaking my whole being. "Also... please look after Chika. Despite her looks... she's still a child... a fragile person..."_**

 ** _Neptune's tears fell as she nodded. "I promise... Farewell, Vert..."_**

 **~o~O~o~**

 _The faces they made... as they were in their last breaths... were something I will never, ever forget. That memory was engraved in my heart, mind, and soul._

 _"Are you alright, Nepgear?" Neptune asked me as we flew. She had this worried look on her face now._

 _I wanted to say I'm fine, but... "...No, I feel horrible..." I said. I couldn't lie when my face gave everything away._

 _"Hey, why don't we take a walk down there, like the old times?" Neptune said as she pointed down below. There's a forest, nothing special. Tall trees, green grasses, and harmless animals were inhabiting the area. Neptune plummetted down and deactivated her HDD as she landed, in which I followed and did the same._

 _We walked quite a bit before Neptune started to talk. "Ah, this nostalgic feeling. Remember when we took our day-offs here and enjoyed the fresh air?"_

 _"..." Somehow, I had no idea about what she was talking about._

 _"...Did we? I'm sorry. My memory's kinda fuzzy. I don't remember." I honestly said. I really couldn't remember anything._

 _Neptune seemed to be sad with my reply. "Oh, is that so? I guess that was really a long time ago."_

 _Silence then veiled the atmosphere around us. It felt awkward all of a sudden. I could even hear the air blowing due to the deafening silence. The silence were getting scary, but my voice was nowhere to be found._

 _"Wow, it sure has gotten quiet."_

 _I just nodded in agreement. "Yes..."_

 _"Well, uh..."_

 _Well, I suddenly had no idea what she was going onto. "Sis, if you have nothing to say, I'd really rather-"_

 _"Wait!" She stopped me as I was about to walk away. "There's a reason why I brought you here."_

 _"What reason...?" I asked. But for some reason, I had a hunch about what she was about to say, but still, I said nothing and waited for her to talk._

 _Neptune cleared her throat. "Don't be surprised, okay?"_

 _I nodded as a response._

 _"Good, good. Now, here it goes." Neptune took a deep breath. "I want you to take my life using that sword."_

 _Eh?_

 _Wait, I just misheard that, right? There's just no way... right? No way... But for some reason, I didn't feel surprised when she said that._

 _"Good, you're not surprised. Though I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not." Neptune said as she smiled. No, please, not that smile. "Come on, you have that sword with you, right? You know what to do."_

 _"Why... sis...? Why...?"_

 _Neptune tapped my shoulder. "I'm still a CPU, right? To fully make use of that sword, my life is necessary." She calmly said. How can you be so calm, sis? You're telling me to take your life, and yet..._

 _Why...? Why did it have to be this way? Was there no other solution?_

 _I realized it was a taboo to ask that question. After taking my friends' lives, who was I to ask a question like that? If there was another solution, then they would still be alive right now!_

 _"And no, don't give me that look." Neptune said. "Don't think also that we should fight the Deity of Sin together. We can't be too sure about that. We have to go all out or nothing."_

 _"But sis... it doesn't have to be you...!" I said. There's just... no way. "Take my life instead...!"_

 _A world without Neptune... I..._

 _A world without Neptune...?_

 _Why didn't it feel new to me...?_

 _"That wouldn't work, Nepgear." Neptune said as she swung her head. I asked why, but her reply was the obvious thing. "You had always been the hard worker. You have more shares than me now."_

 _Yes, I know. But that didn't mean that I became stronger than you now! I really wanted to say that, but deep down..._

 _"No... this is impossible..." I said as I teared up. "This is not real...!"_

 _Not real...? This is... not real...?_

 _I turned to Neptune once more. She was saying something, but for some reason, my ears couldn't hear it._

 _"Please... I want to save the world too...!"_

 _Why...?_

 _Why did she want to save the world?_

 _She did the same before, so would she do something like that again...?_

 _Again? Why did I think that? When did she do the same thing before?_

 _I couldn't think straight. There were a lot of things that I kept on thinking, yet I didn't know where those thoughts were coming from. And to make it worse, it felt like it already happened._

 _"Sis..."_

 _"Don't worry. I'll be fighting with you inside that sword, okay?" She tried to reassure me, but nothing could reassure me. The burden placed on my shoulders was too heavy for me to carry, yet I had to do it._

 _I had to do what?_

 _"Okay..." I replied._

 _"Cool, I knew you'd understand."_

 _I walked closer to Neptune and gave her one final embrace. "Are you ready...?" I asked as I summoned 'the sword', without letting her go._

 _"No worries, I can take the pain."_

 _I pointed the tip of the sword to Neptune's chest. My hands were still shaking._

 _"Be strong, Nepgear, as you have the power to change the world..." Neptune muttered. "I believe in you... you can do it."_

 _I have... the power to change the world...?_

 _For some reason, my hands stopped shaking. I didn't know why Neptune would say something like that. Was she trying to encourage me? No, there's something else._

 _"This... is not real..." I mumbled under my breath._

 _I said the same line again. At first, I said that because I really couldn't accept everything that was happening. Not like I had accepted it now, but for some reason... I..._

 _"...?!"_

 _My hand moved on its own. Instead of stabbing it directly to Neptune's chest, my hand retreated, and then brought the sword behind Neptune. Before Neptune could react to what I just did, my hand stabbed her back, piercing through her body by the chest, and ultimately piercing my chest as well._

 _"Nep...gear...?" Despite her heart was crushed by the sword, she still managed to ask me a question with a surprised look. "What... did you... just do...?"_

 _It hurt. I could feel the warmth of life fading away from my body._

 _"This... is it..." I said as I coughed blood. Blood was also dripping out of Neptune's mouth, no different from me. "The world... can burn... for all I care... I just want... to be... with you..."_

 _I remembered everything. All of it. Why was I here, and what my objective was._

 _"Nep..gear..." I heard Neptune's weak call. She was losing consciousness as I was. "You're... making... a grave mistake..."_

 _I embraced Neptune while 'the sword' was still stuck on our chests. "I don't... care... because..."_

 _I grabbed onto 'the sword' and pushed it to our bodies further. Both of us coughed more blood, but I didn't feel any pain anymore. All because..._

 _"This is not real..."_

 _In an instant, everything around me shattered like glass. The world had turned black, like a massive void. 'The sword' disappeared from our bodies, with Neptune slowly floating away from me. I tried to reach for her hand, but I couldn't even touch her._

 _"Sis...!"_

 _I saw Neptune, who was already in her HDD form without me noticing it, staring at me with a blank expression._

 _"Wait for my return, Nepgear." She said and suddenly disappeared without a trace. "We will be together again soon..."_

 **~o~O~o~**

What Nepgear didn't know was, she indeed made a grave mistake.

* * *

 **Alright, Chapter 5 is done!**

 **Goodness, I didn't expect this to reach 10k words! And I wrote the 3k words in just a single day! Holy!**

 **Sorry it took longer though! Reality is killing me. Initially, I shouldn't have included the conquest flashback of Noire, Blanc, and Vert, but then, I said to myself, why not just go for it since the chapter will be longer than usual. Lmao**

 **If there's a fanfiction sins, I bet the commentator would say "Roll Credits!". Twice. Kek**

 **Now, I prepared myself for a bombardment of questions (Not like I'll receive that many though! XD ) because I know some people will be confused with this chapter, so feel free to ask me anything! I will answer them as long as they wouldn't spoil anything.**

 **In any case, I'm going to assume that someone will ask this, so I better break this now. Dream time and real time do not coincide. To be specific, I used the concept of Inception, where the dream's time is faster than reality.**

 **Okay, I'm going back to Memories. But, I won't work on this one for now. I will finish Memories first before I go back to this. Because Memories has more or less 2 chapters left before it ends, so I decided to focus on that one for now.**

 **Drops your Reviews! They help a lot :)**

 **Nothing to say much other than my gratitude to the people supporting my story! You guys are the best :)**

 **Until next time, see ya guys!**


	6. Homecoming?

**Hello, guys! I'm back! Time for Chapter 6!**

 **So yeah, I can work on this one alone now. And I promise in the future that I won't write two fics at the same time. Never again xD**

 **Well, I'm still not over with Memories. Really.**

 **The genre of the fic might change in the future (snickers) so watch out! I AM NOT YET DONE IN GIVING SUFFERING** **T̶O̶ ̶M̶Y̶S̶E̶L̶F̶!**

 **Aaaand, sorry for the very long update. You know me guys. ^^; So I made a loooooooooong chapter as an apology!**

 **So onto the chapter now, enjoy!**

* * *

Somewhere in the ruined dimension, a dark vortex suddenly exploded. As it disappeared, it showed three people, lying on the ground. Their landing didn't seem to be a pleasant one, judging from the way they lie on the floor. It looked like they were thrown out from somewhere.

"...Ugh..." The person with blue hair said as she rubbed the back of her head. It didn't look like she hit it somewhere, so she was fine. "What the hell was that...?"

The other person, who had a green color hair, sat up. "...It looks like that was the end of Nepgear's dream, Blanc."

"No shit, Vert." Blanc said.

The last person, who just seemed to regained her consciousness, sat up as well. She was rubbing her temples, as her head was seriously hurting her.

"Ugh..."

And what's more...

"Noire, are you okay?" Vert asked with a concerned look on her face.

Noire stopped whatever she was doing and turned to Vert. "Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry."

Now, Blanc was also staring at her. Noire couldn't get any comfortable with their stares. "What? Something on my face?"

"Yeah, there is." Both Vert and Blanc replied in unison.

Noire felt like she was being mocked as she narrowed her eyes. But then, the looks Vert and Blanc had didn't change. And so, she touched her face with her fingers.

"Huh...?"

Noire felt her fingers became wet after touching her cheeks. She traced where that came from, and realized that it was from her eyes.

Those were tears. She was crying.

"I'm not crying." Noire said as she relentlessly wiped her tears from her eyes. "Some dust just entered my eyes."

"That's one big ass dust right there." Blanc said sarcastically. Either way, Noire wasn't fooling anyone.

Noire immediately turned around as she still was wiping her tears off. "Come on, let's go. We don't have much time before Nepgear wakes up." She said as she blasted up to the skies, leaving the two.

Blanc and Vert just looked at each other and sighed before following Noire. They seriously had no idea what the hell was going on inside her mind, and they weren't sure if they wanted to know either.

 **~o~O~o~**

Inside a room in a certain castle, a lone girl was standing in the middle. The room she was in was dimmed, with only small torches attached on the walls. She was just there, standing, seemingly waiting for someone to arrive. And not long after that, a pillar of darkness appeared few feet in front of her. After a short while, another girl appeared as the pillar disappeared.

"Seems like you succeeded, Nepgear."

Nepgear, the CPU of Planeptune, was the one who just got out of the darkness.

Nepgear sighed before speaking. "What do you mean by that, Kurome?"

Kurome, Ankokuboshi Kurome, to be precise. It wasn't her real name, but it was the name given to her by Nepgear, as per her request.

"Nope. Nothing. Pay no heed to it." Kurome said as she waved her hands. "More importantly, how are you feeling?"

Nepgear closed her eyes for a moment. She couldn't remember anything that she dreamt, aside from one thing that she was sure of. And she felt very light, almost like she was healed from inside and out.

"I feel great. Thanks for worrying."

Kurome eyed her for a moment.

"But enough about me." Nepgear said as she shrugged the topic. "Was someone in here?"

Kurome didn't reply. Nepgear had grown suspicious of her in an instant that she went silent. "...Well, your three friends found their way in here earlier."

"Three friends?" Nepgear raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You know... _them._ "

Nepgear could just make an 'Oh' expression afterward. She didn't expect _those three_ to find their way in here, given that this place was a separate dimension from theirs. She wondered how did they manage to get in here, but she knew Kurome wouldn't know everything, so she decided not to ask her.

Kurome sighed in relief. Well, she knew what Nepgear was thinking, and she was glad that Nepgear didn't ask her about who helped them get in here. Kurome didn't really want to get Histoire in trouble.

"They probably were curious about the monsters in the cave." Kurome said as she sighed. "Didn't know that they would be able to trace this place though."

Nepgear didn't say anything and just kept quiet.

"Let's head back. I'm sure you're pretty hungry now." Kurome said. Nepgear was about to protest, but then her stomach growled a little. Kurome could just chuckle at her.

Without further ado, Kurome and Nepgear went out of the castle and headed back to their dimension.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation - Underground Cave.

Deep inside the cave, Vert, Blanc, and Noire got out of the portal that was leading to the other dimension. As they got out, Noire immediately took the N-Gear lying on the ground and turned it off.

"Let's split up for now. I don't want Nepgear to find us in here." Noire said as she put the N-Gear in her pocket. "Let's assume that that woman will tell Nepgear that we've been there."

Blanc and Vert nodded. It seemed like they were all thinking the same thing. Without wasting any precious time, they went up to the surface.

"I'll be in my Basilicom. If you need something, just give me a call." Noire said and then left Vert and Blanc without waiting for a reply.

Blanc and Vert could just stare at Noire's figure as she flew away. They definitely knew that something was going on with Noire.

"What do you think, Vert?" Blanc asked.

Vert didn't seem to be surprised with that question. "About Noire?"

"Yeah."

She knew what Blanc was talking about. "Seeing Neptune die for the second time must be hard for her."

Yes, that was true. They witnessed everything before Nepgear's dream ended and got thrown out.

Blanc sighed. "Couldn't agree more. She always had a one-sided rivalry with her that it almost looked like those two really got along from the get-go."

"You might be right." Vert said as she kept her gaze towards the direction where Noire was headed to. "By the way, can you come with me for a moment? I want to discuss something..."

 **~o~O~o~**

Noire arrived back in her Basilicom. She didn't bother to enter through the main entrance and just went straight to her room's balcony. Either way, no one would complain wherever entrance of the Basilicom she'd enter. She walked into her room without further ado and threw herself on her bed after reverting her transformation. She sighed as she rolled and faced the ceiling.

"..."

Noire covered her eyes with her right arm. All of a sudden, her eyes were tearing, but she didn't bother wiping them.

"..."

She rolled again and buried her face in her pillow as she sobbed quietly. The scene she saw earlier completely broke her heart. And now, it kept on replaying inside her mind. She could've wished that she didn't see that, but she had no idea. Seeing Neptune die for the second time, plus the way she died, she could feel nothing but pain in her heart.

"...Neptune..."

She hugged her pillow tighter to keep her sobs from coming out. She really missed Neptune, and of course, she wanted to see her again, not in a dream, but for real. But she knew that it would be next to impossible.

Noire didn't notice that someone just walked into her room. "...Sis...?"

As she heard her name got called, she immediately sat up on her bed and wiped her eyes off her tears. She then turned around to see who just called her, and saw her sister standing by the door, with a few documents on her hands. "Oh, it's you, Uni." Noire sighed in relief.

"Is something wrong, sis?" Uni asked after putting the documents on the nearby table. She then walked towards Noire and sat down on the bed beside her. "Your eyes are red..."

Well, Noire couldn't hide that one. "It's nothing... Don't worry about it..." Noire said as she tried to pat Uni's head, but she dodged Noire's hands, which somehow displeased Noire. "...Uni?"

"Sis, stop acting so tough!" Uni said. She then grabbed both of Noire's hands and gripped it tightly. "You and I both know that it wasn't nothing."

"I'm here for you sis. I'm here to listen to you. I'm here to help you with whatever you're going through." She continued. "...Or am I that unreliable?"

After hearing that, Noire madly swung her head. "No, no, no! You're a great help to me, Uni." She then claimed her hands back and pulled Uni into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Uni... I... I just don't know what to do..."

"Sis... what happened...?" Uni asked.

Noire pulled away from Uni. If she had to be honest with herself, she seriously didn't want to tell Uni about it, but then, she also didn't want to disappoint her. "I... I saw Neptune again..."

Uni's eyes widened. Though it shouldn't have come as a surprise, since seeing a dead person alive would definitely be a shocking experience, she still was surprised. Probably because _it was Neptune_.

"...And again... I saw her die... but in a different way."

Now that definitely surprised Uni more. If she was in Noire's shoes, she would probably feel the same. Still, Uni kept her mouth shut and just let Noire continue.

"She died... by Nepgear's hands."

Uni froze.

"What..." was all Uni could say.

But Noire wasn't finished talking yet. "...That's not all... Nepgear... killed Neptune... along with herself." Noire said as her tears started to fall again. Recalling that fresh memory was definitely not a pleasant thing for her, which made Uni regret asking.

"Sis..." Uni felt her tears escaping from her eyes as well. Despite not seeing it personally, imagining Nepgear killing her sister along with herself wasn't really a happy image. It was like a murder-suicide. No, it was indeed a murder-suicide.

Uni then wondered where did Noire see that, but she decided not to ask further. She just pulled her sister into a hug and comforted her.

It seemed like Noire was done telling Uni everything she wanted to know, except for the last one that Uni decided not to ask.

 **~o~O~o~**

Leanbox - Basilicom.

Vert and Blanc just arrived at the Basilicom's entrance and went inside without further ado. The guards and staffs greeted them as they saw their arrival, in which both of them greeted back as a sign of acknowledgment. They then took the elevator and went a few floors up, eventually stopping at Vert's office.

"Take a seat. I'll prepare some tea." Vert said and went to the pantry whilst Blanc took a seat near Vert's desk. After a few moments, Vert came back with a tray of tea and snacks. She then poured tea on a cup and served it with Blanc. "Here, help yourself."

"Thanks." Blanc said as she accepted the tea and took a sip on it. "I hate to admit, but you really do make a fine blend of tea."

Vert smiled at that comment. It was probably the first time she heard Blanc complimented her about her tea. "Why, thank you." She said and sat down on a chair at the opposite side of the small table.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Blanc said as she placed her teacup on the table in front of her.

Vert closed her eyes for a moment after placing her teacup on the small table. "What are your thoughts on _that sword_?"

"What sword?"

"The sword from Nepgear's dream." Vert then folded her hands on her lap. "It was the same sword that she used to kill Arfoire when we arrived in Celestia, right?"

Blanc tried to reproduce Nepgear's dream in her mind. Looking at the sword Vert was talking about, "Yeah, it's the same sword. What about it?"

"I was wondering where did that sword come from." Vert said.

Blanc sighed. "Look, Vert. We already discussed this with Noire before. We don't know. We have no idea." She then crossed her arms. "Don't waste your brain cells on figuring out something that can't be figured out."

"I mean, Blanc, don't you find it strange?" Vert said. "I've never seen something like that."

"Vert, we are NOT immortal. We may live eternally, but that doesn't mean we can't die." Blanc said irritatingly. "Seriously, what the heck is going on in your mind?"

But Vert didn't back down from the argument. "I know that Blanc, but didn't you notice anything back there?"

"What's to notice there?"

"Were you seriously paying attention to the dream earlier?"

Blanc twitched an eyebrow after hearing that question. To her ears, it seemed like Vert was mocking her, but looking at her face, she instantly dropped that thought. Vert was indeed serious about this discussion. "So, penny for your thoughts? You're leaving me in the dark here."

Vert sighed in disappointment. Well, she expected Blanc to notice that, but she didn't.

"I just realized it when we got out..." Vert said as she took her teacup and sipped on it. "When we were in the Basilicom, the staff there said that the quakes were coming from this place called 'Gamindustri Graveyard', right?"

Blanc nodded in agreement.

"And I am sure that it wasn't just normal quakes. There's _something_ in there."

Blanc gulped as she kept her attention to Vert. "What is?"

"I don't know, but let's just assume that it's something more sinister than we could ever imagine." Vert said. "But that's just a part of what I want to talk about."

Blanc narrowed her eyes. "It's that sword again."

"That too, but there's another thing."

Blanc raised an eyebrow. Seriously, she was getting irritated with Vert's sketchiness. "I'm listening."

Vert tried to say something, but her throat was caught up into something and coughed hard. Blanc immediately rushed to the pantry to get some water and went back to Vert to help her ease up. After drinking a glass of water, Vert sighed in relief. "...Thank you."

"Seriously, stop giving me a heart attack." Blanc said as she sighed. "I almost thought that what you were about to say was something that should never be spoken. Like a curse or something like that."

Vert just smiled awkwardly. Well, knowing Blanc's hobbies, she wasn't surprised.

"So, what were you trying to say earlier?"

Vert cleared her throat before speaking. "This one really confuses me." Vert said. "Why did Nepgear _have to kill_ Neptune?"

Silence.

"..."

Blanc's eyes then widened at what Vert just said. It just dawned on her. That train of realization made her freeze on the spot.

"Fucking shit... why didn't I realize that?!" Blanc said as she clenched her fists.

"Language, Blanc." Vert said as she sighed. "If we follow that idea, it really wouldn't make any sagacity, then the sword is all we have left. I mean, if they were going to fight something evil, why would Nepgear kill Neptune? Isn't two hands better than one?"

"Yes, yes, I know. It doesn't really make sense to me... unless..." Blanc then stopped herself from saying what she was about to say and bit her lip, which confused the Leanbox's CPU.

Vert raised an eyebrow. "...Unless what?"

Blanc clicked her tongue. She got it all figured out in her head. "...Unless that evil is strong enough that even the power of numbers couldn't defeat it, and the only means of defeating it..."

"...is that sword, right?" Vert finished.

Blanc nodded in affirmation. But that wasn't all, of course. Blanc let Vert discover the answers on her own, in which she knew that Vert would definitely find.

"Then why did Nepgear have to... ah..." Vert gasped as she came to a sudden realization.

"You know where I'm getting at, right?"

Vert nodded nervously. Realizing that fact made her anxious all of a sudden. "...That sword absorbs the lives of CPUs and uses it as a source of power."

"Exactly. And following that train of thought, the more CPU it kills, the more powerful it becomes."

Silence.

Both of them didn't know what to say afterward. They just had a big discovery, which of course made them afraid of Nepgear. She had the power to kill them, and of course, Blanc and Vert wouldn't want to get anywhere near that sword.

"But wait." Blanc said as she realized another thing. "Where did Nepgear get that sword? This is the first time I've heard of something like that."

Vert was silent. She tried to think of a possibility, but nothing was coming inside her mind. It was hard for her to come up with something when the subject itself did not follow the rules of the world.

"I don't know, Blanc..." Vert rubbed her temples. Thinking too much about it was giving her headache. "I seriously have no idea..."

Blanc sighed. Wasn't that the objective of this discussion? "So, we're back to square one, huh."

"Sorry. I probably wasted your time." Vert apologized and just took another sip on her teacup, only to find out that it was empty.

"No, it's fine. It's good that we know what that sword can do." Blanc said and then emptied her teacup. "This just means that we can't let our guard down around Nepgear."

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation - Basilicom.

Uni, the CPU candidate of Lastation, could be seen working inside Noire's office. Her sister was sleeping at that moment, so she took the liberty to do the rest of the work. She knew what Noire just went through.

"Finally done." Uni said as she stamped the last document and sighed in relief. She stretched her arms upward to ease the stiffness of her body. She could use some massage right now, but alas, nobody was available.

She stood up from the chair she was sitting on and headed to the pantry. She was craving for something sweet, and so she hoped that there would be some snacks stashed in there. Fortunately, there were a few slices of cakes of different flavors in the fridge. She took one and brought it out to the balcony. She laid the cake on the table before leaning on the railings and stared at the skies. It was already afternoon, and it had been a few hours since Noire came back from where she had gone to earlier. Another thing that was bugging her mind was Nepgear. She didn't know why, but she couldn't keep herself to not think about her.

"..."

She sighed. She discarded whatever she had in mind for now and sat down on a chair at the table. Maybe sweets will do the trick.

"Mmmm...!" Uni was delighted as she took a bite off the cake. She then wondered when was the last time she had one as this one really tasted so great.

Uni continued to savor every bite until she heard a ringing sound from the room. It sounded like the telephone was ringing. She pouted before going back inside the room to pick the phone up

"Hello? This is Uni speaking. May I help you?" Uni said after picking the phone up.

 _"Oh, good afternoon. Is Noire in? She isn't picking her phone up."_ The person on the other line said to Uni.

Uni raised an eyebrow. This person seemed to be close to Noire, or so she thought. "Uhm, sis is sleeping right now. Who is this by the way?"

 _"Oh, I'm sorry. This is Vert, a friend of-, wait, what did you just call Noire?"_ The person from the other line seemed to be surprised with what Uni just said.

"Uh, sis?" Uni repeated.

 _"We're going there now."_ The person then immediately hung up without waiting for Uni's answer.

Uni was flabbergasted as she put the telephone back. Was telling her that she was Noire's sister really that surprising? Well, what's more, Vert said that "they're going here now" made Uni more nervous. After more or less half an hour, she heard a knock on the door.

'That was fast!' Uni thought. She then opened the door and saw two people outside. One tall, blonde-haired mature woman, who was wearing a green and peach-colored dress, with the top being a dark green that has a gold lining on it, a red ribbon on her neck, detached upper-arm portions of her dress's sleeves, and has frilled gloves on her hands. The other person was a short, light-brown haired girl, wearing a white sleeveless top-dress with a combination of brown and white colors. She was also wearing an excessively long, thick gloves that went up to her shoulders, with soft, brown frills protruding out of the back of them.

Now that the people at the door got a good look of Uni, the blonde-haired woman spoke up. "So, you must be Uni."

Uni could just nod nervously. The fact that these two got up her meant that they really were close to Noire because not just anyone could come here without Noire's permission.

In an instant, the blonde-haired woman's eyes sparkled. "My! You really look like Noire, but a lot cuter!" She then immediately pulled Uni into a hug, who was caught off-guard from the compliments.

"Vert, I didn't come with you for this." The other person at the door said as she crossed her arms.

In an instant, Vert pulled away from Uni and composed herself. "I'm sorry, Blanc. I just couldn't help myself." Vert just smiled awkwardly. "It's not every day that I see a cute girl like Uni."

With that Uni blushed, and Blanc twitched an eyebrow. Blanc then glared sharply at Uni, who seemed to be looking at her as well. Uni felt nervous all of a sudden.

"I'm Vert. The CPU of Leanbox." Vert introduced. "This is Blanc, the CPU of Lowee." She introduced Blanc, who didn't seem to have an amused expression on her face. Uni could think that Blanc was feeling _that way_ , but she immediately discarded that thought.

"I-I'm Uni, CPU Candidate of Lastation." Uni introduced nervously. "N-Nice to meet you." She tried to crack a smile but failed miserably. Vert could just chuckle at her whilst Blanc didn't give two shits about it.

"Likewise." Vert said as she shook Uni's hands happily. Blanc just crossed her arms and silently clicked her tongue.

"S-So, what brings you here...?" Uni tried to strike a conversation in hopes to ease the tension she was receiving from the Lowee CPU.

Vert composed herself first before talking. She definitely was getting too excited meeting Uni for the first time. "Ehm. Well, we came to discuss some matters with Noire, but since you said that she's asleep, I guess that would have to wait."

Blanc didn't seem to like where Vert was going. And so, she tried to get her attention. "Vert."

But she was ignored.

"T-Then, why have you come here knowing that?" Uni asked.

"To meet you, of course!" Vert then pulled Uni again into a hug.

Now, Blanc totally lost it. She didn't come here to witness Vert run about her antics. "GODDAMNIT VERT! GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!" She then stomped her foot on the floor, creating a weak tremor.

Vert jolted up a little and unconsciously pulled herself away from Uni. No kidding, that definitely surprised her. And of course, Uni could just cower in fear. She reminded herself not to piss off Blanc even just a little.

"...Who the hell is yelling...?" A sleepy voice then spoke. The three of them turned to the source of the voice and saw Noire entering the room, with a very tired aura around her. "Oh, it's you two, Vert and Blanc..."

"Sorry for waking you up, Noire." Blanc apologized.

Noire sighed. "It doesn't matter anymore. I couldn't even get a wink of sleep anyway." She said and sat down behind her desk. "So, what brings you two here?"

Vert and Blanc looked at each other before turning back to Noire. "It's about Nepgear and _that sword_." Blanc said before turning to Uni.

After hearing that and seeing Blanc's stares, Uni felt like she shouldn't be in this room anymore. "Uhm, I think I'll excuse myself..." But before she could leave the room...

"No, Uni. You're staying here." Noire said which made Uni stop in her tracks. "You need to hear this as well."

Uni could just gulp from the tension she was getting. She then walked back to them and sat down beside Vert.

"Well, if Noire says so, then it's fine." Vert said as she sat down on one of the chairs near the desk.

After everyone was seated, Noire asked them again. "So, what's this talk about Nepgear?"

It was obvious to Blanc that Noire didn't really want to talk about her, or Neptune either, but she had to hear what she and Vert had to say. "Vert and I had a small talk earlier about Nepgear's dream earlier."

Noire's eyes narrowed a bit as she heard that. Uni seemed to be lost a little. "Let me guess, about why Nepgear killed Neptune in that dream, right?"

Color Uni surprised. So that was what Noire was talking about earlier. Either way, she still kept her mouth shut and listened to whatever Blanc wanted to say.

"Yes, but that's not all." Vert said as she narrowed her eyes a little. "Did you notice anything back there? Something familiar?"

Noire nodded. "So you two did notice it as well." She said as she leaned in her chair. "The sword that she used to kill Neptune, is the same sword that she used to kill Arfoire."

Uni gave it a little thought. If what Noire said was true, then the sword she was talking about was the same sword that she described as full of curses. Uni tried thinking of relating the two events, but she couldn't find it. Well, one reason was that she wasn't there to witness it.

"That's correct, but that's another thing." Vert continued. "Blanc and I discovered something when we discussed Nepgear's dream earlier."

Noire turned to Uni, who just looked at her as well. "We're listening." Noire said after turning back to Vert.

"We tried to connect everything that we gathered there." It was Blanc's turn to explain. "The quakes that came from their so-called Gamindustri Graveyard was no ordinary quakes... and I assume that you know that, right?"

Noire nodded.

"There was _something_ in that graveyard. Something greater than any evil that we could possibly think of." Blanc said as her hand shook a little, but nobody noticed it, fortunately. "It wasn't a coincidence that we saw Neptune and Nepgear going somewhere quiet when we followed them."

Nobody said a word and just let Blanc do her thing.

"We just assumed that even numbers wouldn't be enough to defeat that evil." She continued. "And following that idea, the sword would be the only option left."

Surprisingly, Noire wasn't surprised to hear that. And of course, there was one thing that confused her.

"But then, I know you're probably asking this yourself now." Blanc said as she crossed her legs. " _'Why did Nepgear have to kill Neptune?'_ right?"

Noire nodded. Uni had the same question to herself as well. If they were indeed going up against something evil, why would she take the life of her ally? That really didn't add up to her, so she listened very carefully to the rest of the story.

"If we assume that 'She must kill Neptune', then it would only mean that that sword absorbs the lives of the CPUs it killed and uses it as a source of power." Blanc said.

Both Uni and Noire gasped in surprise. They didn't expect that kind of revelation. Noire tried to think of anything that would disprove that theory, but no, she couldn't think of anything else as deep inside her, she knew that it was the only plausible explanation.

"B-But then... Ms. Blanc... would that mean... Nepgear killed her sister... for power...?" Uni tried not to believe that. Because when she met Nepgear for the first time, she didn't seem to be the person that would indulge herself in power. She just couldn't view Nepgear that way.

Fortunately, Blanc disagreed with her as she swung her head. "If this is Neptune we're talking about, I assume that it would be her who told Nepgear to kill her using that sword."

Uni felt relieved after hearing that, though she was guilty of feeling that way. Meanwhile, Noire didn't say anything as she just kept her head lowered down. Blanc noticed her silence and attempted to call her, but Vert stopped her by holding her hand and swinging her head. Vert knew that it was too much for Noire to bear, and she had to admit, it was also too much for her. Because they knew Neptune personally, it would be just right to think that Neptune would sacrifice herself for the greater good of the many.

Just like how she sacrificed herself to make the three of them realize what the most important thing was.

"But, that would be the case if we don't add Nepgear killing herself." Vert suddenly spoke up. That made Blanc and Noire turn towards her.

"What do you mean by that, Vert?" Blanc seemed to be surprised with that. She didn't know that Vert still had something.

Vert swung her head. "It's just as I said. If we add the idea of Nepgear killing herself along Neptune, it would debunk everything that we discussed here."

"Then what's the point of this discussion? Nepgear indeed killed herself along with Neptune." Blanc said as she crossed her arms.

Silence.

That meant that Vert was giving them time to think for an answer. The three of them used their brains to think what Vert was trying to say, but unfortunately, they could not crack the mystery of her words. They were at loss. If they indeed add the idea that Nepgear killed herself along with Neptune, it would look like that there was nothing they could do to solve the crisis they had, so ending their lives would be the shortest way out. But then, if they wouldn't add it, then what were they just saw earlier? No matter what they try to think of, they can't correlate the two.

"So, what are you trying to say, Vert? We're kind of left in the dark here." Noire asked.

Vert didn't answer and just turned to Blanc. The Lowee CPU just swung her head as a response. Vert then turned to Uni, who also swung her head. In short, they didn't find an answer.

"Well, it doesn't really have anything to do with Nepgear's dream, but I still had to think about it." Vert said. That somehow irked the three, since she just made them think about something pointless, which wasn't really true. Partly, maybe, but that was beside the point. "If we think _both_ sides were true, then it would appear that Nepgear's actions would be a last minute decision."

Noire, Blanc, and Uni raised an eyebrow. They didn't quite get what Vert tried to imply.

"Long story short, it looked like Nepgear 'woke up' in that dream." Vert said.

Still, they didn't quite understand it. "What do you mean by that, Vert?" Blanc asked.

"In more words, Nepgear realized that she was just dreaming; that everything of it was just a dream. A delusion, to be precise."

Now that was quite simple to understand. Looking at it that way, it would indeed be the case. But then, Uni had thought of something weird just now, but she didn't bother telling her companions about it and just kept it to herself.

'If that's the case... then could it be... Nepgear killed herself... because she wanted to see her dead sister again for real...?' That train of thought scared Uni. While she didn't see Nepgear as that kind of person, Uni knew next to nothing about her, so she couldn't just assume anything.

All she could do was bite her lips.

"Uni...?" Noire called as she noticed her sister's distress.

Uni was snapped out of her thoughts. "Y-Yeah?"

"You look pale. What's wrong?"

"R-Really?" Uni couldn't believe that. Well, she shouldn't have been surprised though. "W-Well, all these... I can't seem to take them all at once..."

Noire felt a bit discomforted with that. To be honest, she didn't really want Uni to hear everything about this, but she had to. For her safety, of course.

"I'm sorry that you got dragged in this problem of ours." Noire apologized, yet she knew that it wasn't enough. "All of these were our fault, and none of these would've happened if we were just smart enough to realize what had to be done back then."

Their discussion ended after that. None of them really wanted to continue that conversation anymore. They had enough already.

 **~o~O~o~**

Planeptune - Airship Terminal.

Kurome and Nepgear stepped out of the airship as it safely landed. From the looks of it, they were just away from Planeptune for about less than half a day, since it was already afternoon. The two of them didn't take any detours and headed straight to the Basilicom.

"Oh, by the way, Kurome..."

Kurome turned to Nepgear. "What's up?"

"With that finished, does that mean..."

Before Nepgear could finish her sentence, Kurome interrupted her. "What do you think, Nepgear?"

"...?" Nepgear could just raise her eyebrow.

"I can grant what people want, but that doesn't mean I can grant _everything._ " Kurome said.

Nepgear was still confused. Kurome knew that as Nepgear's eyebrow didn't lower.

"What I'm saying is, my power doesn't work that way. I'm not a holy grail." Kurome explained. "Like I said to you before, it comes with a price."

Nepgear sighed in disappointment. She knew that Kurome wasn't telling her something, but she also knew that Kurome wouldn't tell her that. It just meant that it was a vital information that Nepgear must never know.

After a short walk, they arrived in front of the Basilicom.

"But you know, I can assure you. Your wish will be granted." Kurome said and turned around. "I'll see you later, Nepgear. I have some matters to attend to." She then walked away from Nepgear.

Nepgear was dumbfounded with Kurome's sudden exit. She never knew that Kurome was a busy person. Well, given that she just pops out from nowhere when it was really convenient for her, Nepgear couldn't complain at all.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation - City.

Uni was wandering in the city. She already finished her work a few hours ago, so she had some free time. Though really, she never had this huge amount of free time in her life, so she didn't know what to do with it.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she wasn't even looking in front of her and bumped into someone when she walked into a corner.

"Kya-!"

Both of them fell down on their butts as they hit their heads.

"Owww-!" Uni rubbed her forehead, but then she remembered that she just bumped into someone. She immediately composed herself and checked the person she just crashed into. Uni saw a girl, somewhat in her late twenties, with a long, pale brown hair that reaches her waist. She was also wearing a leafy bow on her hair, making a sidetail at the left side of her head. She was wearing a thigh-length blue coat, with silver buttons attached in the middle, but the coat was open, revealing her black, fit tank top with a zipper that closes it up to her neck. She was also wearing detached sleeves, which was tightened on both of her arms to prevent it from falling. Her tank top was paired with brown, diamond buckled belt and a pair of shorts that didn't even cover half of her thighs. She was also wearing blue high boots and long knee socks that reached above her knees.

"Owww-, watch where you're going..." The said girl said as she rubbed her forehead. She hoped that it wouldn't leave a lump.

Uni instantly stood up and lowered her head. "I-I'm sorry! I was lost in my thoughts that I forgot to keep my eyes on the road."

"Well, next time just... wait, are you Lady Uni...?" The girl asked as she finally got a good view of Uni.

Uni somehow felt nervous all of a sudden. "U-Uh, yeah. How did you know me...?"

She seriously asked that?

"Are you really asking that? Everyone in Lastation knows you of course!"

Yep, Uni mentally slapped herself for asking that. She wasn't outside of Lastation, and so of course, the citizens would recognize her.

"I'm IF, an agent of The Guild, nice to meet you!" IF said as she offered her hand to Uni, in which she reluctantly accepted.

"N-Nice to meet you too..." Her nervousness didn't go away and had grown more nervous after shaking IF's hand.

IF had this smug look on her face afterward. "What, do you have social anxiety or something?"

"W-WHAT?!" Uni was surprised to hear that. Well, from the looks of it, she might have. "I-I-I don't have, of course!"

IF could just swing her head in amusement. "Yeah, yeah. You have to calm down for a bit." She said. "Take a few deep breaths. That'll calm your nerves."

Uni grumbled before doing IF's suggestion. She took a few deep breaths; inhales and exhales. It seemed to have calmed her down as she was feeling less nervous now.

"Cooled off yet?" IF asked.

Uni hated to admit it, but yeah, it cooled her down, and so, she nodded as a response. "Good. Now, can I ask for a favor, if you don't mind?"

The CPU candidate raised an eyebrow. She wondered what could IF's request be.

"I'm looking for this person." IF said as she showed a small picture from her pocket. Uni took a good look of it. The person in the picture was a girl, with light-congo pink hair matching the color of her eyes. Her age seemed to be around the same age as IF. The girl was wearing a tan-white wool sweater top and matching arm warmers, and a heart choker with letter C on it. Only the upper half of the person was shown in the image.

"No, I've not seen this person before." Uni said. "What happened to her?"

IF put the picture back in her pocket and sighed. "She has been missing for a week now, and not a single clue about her whereabouts were found."

A missing person? Uni hadn't heard of an incident like that for years.

"I see. If you don't mind, I'll help you search for her." Uni offered. She couldn't just ignore an incident like this. "I've got nothing better to do anyway."

IF was delighted with Uni's help. "Thank you. I'd appreciate it very much." IF said and shook Uni's hand. "Alright, let's get started now."

Uni nodded and followed IF's lead. And thus, their search for the missing person had started.

 **~o~O~o~**

Nighttime - Lastation.

Uni and IF could be seen dropping by in a diner. From the looks of it, it seemed like their search didn't progress at all, as both of them had this problematic look painted on their faces.

"No luck in here too, huh..." IF mumbled as she sighed in disappointment.

"I forgot to ask you, where does she live anyway? Maybe we could start searching there?" Uni suggested.

IF swung her head. "No, I already did that." IF then took a spoonful of her dinner. "She's from Planeptune, and I searched there before coming here."

"What makes you think that she would be here?"

IF swung her head again. "Not just here, but she could be anywhere in Gamindustri." She said. "She's a nurse, and she always gets sent to different places of Gamindustri for rescue operations."

Uni could just gape at IF. It was true though, with the sudden appearance of the underground caves and the drastic increase of monsters everywhere, it wouldn't be too surprising if emergencies happened. "Have you tried contacting the department she was assigned to?"

"Yeah. It seemed like they lost contact with her after their transportation was caught in an accident from Leanbox on their way to Lowee." IF said. "There were casualties in the crash site, but she's not included as her body wasn't found. That means she's still alive."

Uni sighed in relief. Well, it was a good thing that the person they were looking for was still alive.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Uni asked.

IF finished her dinner before replying, "I'm going to Lowee tomorrow and start my search there."

Uni finished her food as well afterward. She wanted to with her, but she couldn't. "It's a shame that I can't go with you, but I'll try to communicate with Ms. Vert in Leanbox about this issue."

"You'll do that? Thanks!" IF grabbed Uni and wrapped her arm around her. "I appreciate it very much."

"No problem. It's only normal to help people who are in need of help."

Afterward, they went out of the diner and split up. IF was glad that she met Uni, as her search was getting somewhere. With the help of the CPUs, she was sure that she could find the person she was looking for.

"Compa... please be safe..."

 **~o~O~o~**

 ** _"Nepgear..."_**

 _Whose voice was that...?_

 ** _"Nepgear..."_**

 _No, I knew that voice._

 ** _"Nepgear..."_**

 _I knew whose voice was that..._

 ** _"Nepgear..."_**

 _..._

 ** _~o~O~o~_**

Planeptune - Basilicom.

A certain midnight blue-haired girl was on the Basilicom's roof. The time was around two in the morning, and no one aside from was awake. She was staring at the starlit sky without thinking of anything complicated. For some reason, it was a calm feeling for her.

Her name is Kurome Ankokuboshi; formerly known as Uzume Tennouboshi. She was named Kurome by her friend, Nepgear. She really wasn't serious when she asked Nepgear about giving her a name, but who knew that Nepgear was serious about it. She couldn't complain though, and she couldn't say that she didn't like the name either.

Actually, it fits her.

Kurome chuckled out of nowhere. She didn't know why, but she just did.

She brought her eyes down and saw someone leaving the Basilicom. That someone was the one in her thoughts just a few moments ago.

"Nepgear...?" She mumbled.

From her perspective, there was something weird going on with Nepgear. She was in her HDD form, but she wasn't flying. Nepgear was just walking slowly away from the Basilicom, and it looked like...

"Is she sleepwalking...?"

That was weird indeed. Nepgear was sleepwalking outside the Basilicom; moreover, she was in her HDD form. It was almost like she was...

"...?!"

Kurome stood up and jumped down immediately as she realized what was going on. She then disappeared for a short moment before landing on the ground and reappeared again.

"Nepgear..."

Kurome followed Nepgear quietly.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation - Basilicom.

Noire was tossing and turning on her bed. For some unknown reasons, she was unconsciously feeling restless.

 _"Noire..."_

Noire rolled on her bed and covered her ears with her pillow.

 _"Noire..."_

Noire grumbled as she kept hearing that call. She just wanted to sleep!

 _"Noire..."_

With that, she finally snapped. "Ugh, what the hell...?!" She said as she sat up on her bed.

Noire turned to the window, but she saw nobody. She turned to the other side, and there, she saw someone sitting on her bed beside her.

"Boo."

Noire narrowed her eyes as she stared at the said person. "Am I supposed to go 'Kyaa-!' here, Uzume?" She asked. She obviously wasn't amused.

Yes, the said person beside Noire was Uzume. Uzume Tennouboshi.

"Anyways, what the hell are you doing here? Don't you know what time it is? And how did you break inside?!"

Uzume stood up and walked to the balcony door. "Don't bother knowing the small details." She said and then opened the door and stepped outside. "Let's go, we don't have much time left."

"What the hell are you talking about now?" Noire asked as she slipped out of her bed.

Uzume started to float in mid-air. "You'll know when we get there. Come on, follow me."

Noire stared at her suspiciously, but Uzume didn't give two cares about it and just waited for her to come out. "What are you waiting for?"

"Alright, alright. Jeez." Noire transformed and followed Uzume out of the Basilicom. "This better be worth my time. I need sleep too, you know."

Uzume snickered. "Don't worry..."

For some reason, Noire suddenly felt a little nervous.

"You'll definitely not regret it."

 **~o~O~o~**

Planeptune - Forest.

It was around half past two in the morning when Noire and Uzume arrived in the forest. It was unknown to Noire, but this was no ordinary forest. It was the forest where Planeptune's underground cave was located.

"So, what are we doing in this forest at this point of time?" Noire asked. Yep, she couldn't get the right idea about why would they be here.

But of course, Uzume liked to play the mysterious. "Follow the path in front of us, and you'll see the entrance that leads to the underground cave. You'll meet them there."

"Them...?"

"You're asking too many questions. Just do what I say. It's for your own good." Uzume said as she stepped back a bit. "I'll get going now, good luck." She then disappeared into the shadows.

Noire grumbled as Uzume disappeared. "Of course, I would be asking questions... you just woke me up in the middle of the night and made me follow you to whatever this Goddess-forsaken place is..." Noire complained though it was completely useless since the person she should be complaining to was no longer there.

Well, since she was already there, she had no choice but to proceed, and just hoped that it would be worth her time. Though on her way, she wondered how in good Gamindustri that Uzume managed to fly all the way here by herself, while Noire needed to be in her HDD to do so. In any case, Noire immediately dropped that thought since she wouldn't know the answer unless she would ask her.

She sighed before following the road. After a short walk, she arrived at a little open space area, with a hole in the ground. She scanned her surroundings; particularly nobody aside her was present. She was about to complain again when suddenly...

"Noire? Is that you?"

Noire turned to the source of the voice, and there, she saw Blanc, in her HDD form, standing a few feet behind her. "Blanc? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same to you."

Noire somehow got the bad feeling about this. "Uzume popped in my room earlier and interrupted my sleep. She made me follow all the way through here." Noire said as she sighed in disappointment.

"Wow, seriously? She did the same to me." Blanc said in a surprised tone.

Now, Noire was confused. Their Basilicoms were too far from each other, and from the looks of it, the travel time she and Blanc had was roughly the same, so how in good Gamindustri Uzume managed to wake them up and lead them here at the same time. But before Noire could come up with an answer...

"Blanc, Noire? What are you doing here?"

The two CPUs turned to the source of the voice, and there, they saw a tall, green haired mature woman. "Vert, you too?" Blanc asked as she approached Vert. If Noire's hunch was right then...

"What's going on? Uzume appeared in my room and woke me up, made me follow her all the way here, then suddenly disappearing." Vert said.

Bingo. Noire's hunch was right.

"So, she woke us up and lead us here simultaneously, huh?" Noire said. She couldn't believe that, of course. It was like, Uzume had clones of herself. "She was planning to gather us here altogether."

The Vert and Blanc nodded in agreement. This situation must be a little complicated. So, they kept their guards up.

"So, let's go inside?" Noire suggested.

Blanc nodded, but Vert didn't seem to agree with that. "Wait, since we were gathered here, don't you think that Nepgear would also be called here by Uzume?"

"Oh, yeah. That's right." Blanc seemed to agree with Vert. Well, it would make sense if Nepgear would be called as well since three CPUs were assembled in this place.

But Noire didn't agree with that.

"No, I don't think so." Noire said as she swung her head in disagreement. "Even Uzume knows our current relationship with Nepgear, and I'm sure she isn't that stupid to do that."

"You have a point there..."

After no more questions from either of them, they turned to the entrance of the underground cave. Since it was still around three in the morning, staring at the entrance was like staring into the abyss as it was seriously pitch black inside. The three of them gave each other a look and then nodded. But before they could step inside...

"Noire? Blanc? Vert?" A voice suddenly spoke from behind.

They almost freaked out after hearing that. They slowly turned to the source of the voice and saw a little girl sitting on a floating book behind them. "Histoire?!" The three CPUs said in unison.

"I didn't expect to see you three here." Histoire said.

The three CPUs looked at each other again, before Noire spoke up, "Did Uzume lead you here as well?"

"... as well? What's going on?" Histoire asked.

"Uzume woke us up from our sleep in our Basilicoms. She made us follow her all the way here, without telling her motives."

Histoire raised an eyebrow. If she would give it a little thought, Uzume somehow managed to gather them all together simultaneously. But that would only mean that she could split herself and call them at the same time. While Histoire thought that as a little absurd, she couldn't outright deny the possibility. She didn't know Uzume and what her abilities were, so she couldn't make a conclusion.

"Well, she did the same to me, but I said that I should tell Nepgear first." Histoire explained. "But she said that Nepgear was not in the Basilicom, so I could only assume that she gathered us here to find her, else she wouldn't wake me up in the middle of the night."

Nobody said a word after that. The four of them then looked at the entrance. Now with what Histoire just said, the situation seemed to be dire.

"So, are we really sure about this?" Blanc asked.

Noire snickered a little. "You're getting cold feet now?"

"No fucking way, Noire. This place is too dark; I can't see jack shit inside." Blanc said.

Vert sighed. "Language, Blanc." She then crossed her arms. She might need to lecture Blanc about her tongue later on. "So, anyone has a flashlight or something?"

Histoire lifted her right hand. "I got one here." A small ball of light then appeared on her hand. Despite the size, the illumination was bright enough to see what was inside the cave.

"That will do." Noire said before turning back to the entrance. "Let's go." She then jumped down.

The rest of them nodded at each other and followed Noire.

 **~o~O~o~**

Noire, Blanc, Vert, and Histoire traversed through the underground gave. The light that was coming from Histoire's hand was their only way to see where they were going. In all honesty, they didn't really know where to find Nepgear, but since this was also an underground cave the same as the ones from the other nations, it would be best to check the place where the God of Fire was sleeping.

"Now, which way?" Noire asked as they stopped. They encountered a three-way passage. Splitting up would be a good idea, but a dangerous one as well. And they couldn't afford that, now that Histoire was with them. They needed to protect her at all costs.

"Give me a moment." Histoire then flew near the passageway's walls. She observed each of them thoroughly; looking for clues. As she did so, she found a mark on the wall of the middle route. It seemed to be a slash mark of a knife or something. Histoire then signaled the three CPUs to come over.

"We'll go through here." She said.

"You sure about that?" Blanc asked. She seemed to be not convinced.

Histoire nodded. "Yes, I'm one hundred percent sure, Blanc." Histoire said and then pointed on the carving on the wall. "You see that mark? Someone must've passed through here already."

"You came up with that conclusion just because of that?"

Noire interrupted them before the argument could grow worse. "Unless you have a better idea, Blanc, then we'll roll with Histoire's decision."

Blanc grumbled and didn't argue anymore. Vert just snickered at her, in which Blanc heard it and glared at her.

"Let's go." Histoire said and went into the middle passageway, with the three CPUs following her from behind. Not long after that, they encountered an enormous door This door was not alien to the three CPUs. They saw this door already before. It had the same pattern as the one they saw from Lastation's underground cave, where the God of Fire was sleeping. But that wasn't all. There was someone standing in front of it.

"I'm glad that you made it here." The person said as she turned to them.

Histoire approached the said person and asked a question, "What do you mean by that, Uzume?"

Yes, the person standing in front of them was Uzume. The very same person who gathered them outside this cave.

"You'll know when you get inside." Uzume turned around again and walked to the enormous door. As she got close, she reached for it using her right hand. Dark red mist then appeared from her right hand and spread out through the door's surface, which somehow disconcerted the four of them. As the dark red mist disappeared, the door started to open slowly.

"You're on your own from here." Uzume said as she stepped aside. "Histoire, I suggest that you watch from afar."

"Is it dangerous inside?" Vert asked.

Uzume swung her head. "I can't say anything solid, but if I were you, I'm going to expect the worse."

Now that wasn't really reassuring. Well, in any case, the three CPUs can't put Histoire in danger, so they agreed with Uzume's suggestion and let Histoire stay by the entrance. Before going inside, Histoire gave Noire the ball of light on her hand. Noire accepted before going inside with Blanc and Vert. As they expected, the room was indeed pitch black, not even the hole in the ceiling gave light to it.

They walked further inside and as they did so, they saw someone standing in the middle of the room. The first striking feature that they recognized was the person's long lilac-colored hair.

"Nepgear?!" They called in unison.

Yes, the person standing in the middle of the room was Nepgear, the CPU of Planeptune. Nepgear's back was faced in front of them as she was staring above.

"..."

But Nepgear didn't reply as she just kept her attention to whatever she was looking at. Noire, Blanc, and Vert walked closer to Nepgear to see what she was looking at. But before they could get close, they heard a cracking sound.

"What was that?" Blanc asked, but her question wasn't answered.

Noire suddenly felt nervous. Now, if they had more light to illuminate this room, they would know what was going on.

"Give me that light." A voice then suddenly spoke beside Noire, which surprised her a little. Noire then turned to the source of the voice and saw Uzume beside her. Either way, Noire had no time to spare for her own useless reactions, so she complied with Kurome's request and gave the ball of light to her. As Uzume got the light, she amplified it using the dark red mist that was coming from her right hand, and when it had enough light, she threw it to the ceiling. The light was stuck on it as it made contact, giving enough light to illuminate the room.

"You're on your own from here." Uzume said as she disappeared again. She could've sworn that Uzume said that earlier.

For some reason, Blanc and Vert didn't notice Uzume's sudden appearance and disappearance, but then again, this wasn't the time for that. Though what Noire noticed was the surprised look on their faces. She then turned to the direction where they were looking at and saw the wall from the other side had cracks.

"...?!"

No, that wasn't right. It wasn't the wall that had cracks; it was the space itself. Space was being rent into pieces.

"What is-?!"

But before she could finish her question, the cracked space finally broke, with the pieces of it falling down to the ground. And what's more, someone jumped out from the cracked space and landed safely on the ground.

Noire, Blanc, and Vert gasped in surprise as they saw who the person just emerged. They couldn't believe it. They just couldn't. While they knew that someone would come out from that thing, _she_ was the one that they least expected.

The said person stood up before speaking.

 _ **"I'm back, Nepgear..."**_

* * *

 **There you have it! Chapter 6!**

 **I apologize again if this chapter took very looooong. Well, I had to finish Memories first. I also didn't expect this chapter to reach 10k words. Wow, that's lengthy. Though I know you guys like long chapters :)**

 **Anyways, I know that this chapter was full of exposition. Sorry for that, I just had to do that, or else the information would go all over the place.**

 **What are your thoughts about the chapter? Drop them in your mighty whooping reviews :3**

 **I apologize if there would be some mistakes in the chapter. There's something wrong my eyes right now so I can't stare at my laptop's screen for too long and too close, so if you spot some mistakes, please just say so. So I can immediately fix it.**

 **Anyway, I've got nothing to say anymore other than my full gratitude to the people supporting my story! You guys are the best :)**

 **Until next time, see ya guys~**


	7. The Beginning of the End

**Hello guys! Time for Chapter 7!**

 **I did some revisions with the story's plot, so we'll have a little timeskip in this chapter since I originally planned that the story would end after this one, but nah, it felt too bland to me, so I extended it a little.**

 **Anyways, answering questions:**

 **To Draen: Ah, you misunderstood me xD What I meant was, I still can't get over with Memories. About Rom and Ram… well, I decided not to include them since… I don't see any part of the story where they would fit in.**

 **To Arantir: *smug look***

 **Uhm, I don't know, but in this chapter, I'm not sure if I should change the fic's rating to M. Tell me what you guys think. Just in case :^)**

 **Again, I want to thank everyone who is supporting this story of mine! You guys are the best :)**

 **Onto the chapter now, enjoy!**

* * *

 _Uni came back to Lastation's Basilicom at around eight in the evening. She headed to Noire's room to check up on her. Peeking inside the room, she saw Noire sitting behind her desk. She seemed to be too absorbed with whatever she was doing, so Uni decided not to interrupt her and just left._

 _"Oh, I need to talk to Ms. Vert..."_

 _She then turned around and walked back to Noire's office. As she arrived, she knocked twice, but she heard no replies. She then slowly opened the door and saw her sister still busy with whatever she was doing on her computer. Even after she walked inside, Noire didn't even notice her._

 _"Sis...?"_

 _Noire jolted up with an 'eek!' voice as she heard her sister's call. Uni didn't expect that kind of reaction._

 _"O-Oh, welcome back, Uni!" Noire said as she turned to Uni. "It's pretty late, where have you been?"_

 _"A-Ah, I was just doing some public service." Uni said with an awkward face, though it didn't look like Noire bought that excuse, which was no excuse as it was true. "I... I need to talk to Ms. Vert. Can I borrow the phone for a bit?"_

 _Noire raised an eyebrow. "Uh, sure? What do you need from her anyway?"_

 _"Ah, there is this incident about a missing person, and an agent of The Guild I met earlier is looking for her personally, so I extended my help to her."_

 _Noire tried to recall if there was an incident like this happened in Lastation before, but sadly, she couldn't remember. Though she wasn't sure if there was an issue like that in the first place._

 _"Okay, then. You can find Vert's number on the third page of the log book."_

 _Uni nodded before picking the phone up. She took the log book which was placed right beside the phone and searched for Vert's number. As she found it, she dialed it on the phone immediately. Uni patiently waited for Vert to pick up the call._

 _"Hello, this is Vert, CPU of Leanbox. May I help you?"_

 _Now, Uni didn't expect that Vert would just say her status like that. But she didn't have the time to ask her about that. "Umm, Ms. Vert? This is Uni."_

 _"My, Uni, it's nice to hear from you!" Vert said from the other line. To Uni's ears, Vert was definitely excited. "What can I do for you?"_

 _"Ah, Ms. Vert, I just want to ask about an accident that happened near Leanbox..."_

 _Vert didn't reply after Uni said that, which somehow made her nervous. "...Ah yes, I've heard of that, but it was already resolved. What do you need to know?"_

 _"I met an agent of The Guild who was looking for a missing person caught in the accident." Uni replied._

 _"I see. So there were indeed missing people." Vert said as she sighed from the phone. "Okay, I'll look into it later. I'll call you back if I found something."_

 _Uni was delighted to hear that answer. "Thank you, Ms. Vert!"_

 _"Anything for you, Uni." Vert said. Despite not seeing it personally, Uni knew that Vert just winked at her._

 _Uni thanked Vert again before ending the call. While Uni was grateful that she got help from Vert, she also knew that that CPU wanted something in return._

 **~o~O~o~**

 ** _"I'm back, Nepgear..."_**

Nepgear was staring at the figure that just emerged out of the cracked space. She couldn't believe it. Neither the people behind her could as well.

"S... Sis... is... that really... you...?" Nepgear slowly walked towards her 'sister'.

The person smiled at Nepgear. "Yes... Nepgear. It is I, Neptune. Your sister..." Neptune said as she opened her arms wide, waiting for Nepgear to come to her. She was in her HDD form and known as Purple Heart. "Come, Nepgear. I've missed you so much..."

Nepgear couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She longed for her sister's return. She longed for her embrace. All these years without her sister was nothing but a complete nightmare. Now that her wish came true, she didn't need anything anymore. All she wanted was her sister, Neptune. To be with her and to be by her side, forever.

Forever and ever.

"SIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSS-!" Nepgear flew to her sister and threw herself into Neptune's arms. "Sis...! Sis...! I've missed you so much...!" She then started to cry on Neptune's chest.

Neptune hugged Nepgear tightly and then whispered in her ear. "Don't cry anymore, Nepgear... I will never leave you again..."

Nepgear's cries subsided a little as she nodded. Meanwhile, the other CPUs staring at them just had this shocked expression. There, they just saw Neptune in front of them, who definitely should've been gone from this world ten years ago. This was the first time they saw a goddess brought back to life.

"N-N-Nep...tune... is that... really you...?" The CPU of Lastation, Noire, currently in her HDD form, Black Heart, asked as she took a step forward, but she got no replies from Neptune. The former CPU of Planeptune just flew up to the hole in the ceiling without giving a care about Noire's question. "...Neptune!" Noire tried to reach for her, but for some reason, she couldn't move her body.

Was it the guilt from before coming back to bite her? She thought that was the case, but she herself wasn't even sure of what she was feeling.

"Nepgear... let's go home..." As they arrived at the hole in the ceiling, Neptune glanced back at the three CPUs and smiled.

Noire and the other two CPUs was left as Neptune exited with Nepgear. They had a lot of questions for Neptune, but it seemed like Neptune didn't give three cares about them. Noire could just stare at the hole in the ceiling where Neptune and Nepgear made their exit. While yes, she was happy that she saw Neptune once again, but for some reason, she couldn't help but feel something was definitely not right, aside from Neptune being alive when she was supposed to be dead.

But of course, her self-loathing didn't last a moment. Right after Neptune and Nepgear went out of the cave...

"AGH-!"

Noire and the CPU of Leanbox, Vert, in her HDD form, Green Heart, turned to the source of the voice who just grunted in pain. And there, they saw their other companion, Blanc, in her HDD form, known as White Heart, the CPU of Lowee, had a blade piercing through her body, on the upper part of her abdomen.

"BLANC!" Vert was shocked to see Blanc's state.

"W... What the... f..fu-akh!" Blanc coughed a few amounts of blood as the blade was forcefully stabbed on her body.

Noire was paralyzed as she stared at Blanc's bleeding figure. She didn't know what to do with this situation. She was too conflicted. As the blade was taken out of Blanc's body, she fell to the ground, receiving another shocking revelation.

"...Neptune...?" Noire said.

Yes, it was Neptune, in her HDD form, Purple Heart, who was behind Blanc and just stabbed her. Noire could see that much as the blade she was holding was tainted with blood. She couldn't be more shocked than she was already after seeing two Neptunes.

"..."

But this Neptune didn't even flinch. She just had this expressionless face on her. She didn't even answer like she couldn't say a word. While Noire was paralyzed in confusion, it was the complete opposite for Vert.

"YOU BITCH...! HOW DARE YOU HURT BLANC!"

Vert dashed to Neptune and attempted to slice her in half, but Neptune parried her attack. Vert didn't stop there and just kept on slashing Neptune while circling around the room. Sparks were flying every time their weapons clashed while releasing a small shockwave that spread out of the room.

"..."

Even so, Neptune's expression didn't change as she parried Vert's attacks. Vert had grown more furious and summoned another spear from her left hand.

"You may be Neptune, but if you hurt Blanc or my friends in any way, I will not hesitate to kill you!" Vert spun around as her right spear was locked with Neptune's sword and delivered a heavy downward slash using her other spear. Neptune crashed onto the ground by the massive force that Vert exerted.

Noire could just watch them. She was completely out of it. She was rendered motionless from the shock.

But of course, Vert didn't stop there. "I'm going to kill you, NEPTUNE!"

She stepped on the ceiling and plummeted down at near lightning speed towards Neptune, who was groaning on the ground. As she dropped down, Vert stabbed both of her spears on Neptune's chest and releasing a massive shockwave in the whole room. Blood splattered on Vert as her spears pierced Neptune's body.

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Vert did not stop there and continued to stab and slice Neptune's body repeatedly. She was already bathing in Neptune's blood as she was driven by her rage, but she didn't give two cares about it. She couldn't suppress her anger. Neptune's body was still getting massacred by Vert even as the guts were already splattering anywhere, and she didn't have any plans of stopping until Neptune was reduced to bits.

"...Noire...! Noire...!"

Noire didn't even notice that someone was calling her until she was shaken up. "NOIRE!"

In an instant, Noire snapped out of her thoughts and turned to the source of the voice. "H-Histoire...?! What are you doing here?

"Uzume told me to stay back for a bit, so I have no idea what is going on inside." Histoire said. "More importantly, you have to stop Vert! She's going insane!"

Noire turned to Vert, who was still massacring Neptune. She cleared her hesitating thoughts and immediately dashed to Vert as she summoned her giant sword.

"Wake the hell up, Vert!" Noire cried as she twisted her sword and hit Vert's back using the flat part of her blade.

"GAH!" Vert was blown away, slid on the ground and ultimately crashed into the wall. A few small boulders fell over her body after the impact.

Histoire flew towards Noire, but as she got close, she immediately regretted it. She instantly covered her mouth after seeing raw flesh scattered anywhere near her and prevented herself from throwing up. She couldn't even identify the person that got slaughtered, as the thing she just saw wasn't a representation of a person.

"...!"

Noire suddenly remembered more pressing matters. "Histoire, Blanc needs your help!" Noire said and levitated towards where Blanc was. Histoire followed her and as soon as they arrived where Blanc was, she was already bleeding intensively and her transformation was reverted. Blanc's breathing was getting heavier by the second, so they didn't waste any more precious time and tended to her wounds. Noire didn't say a word and carefully rolled Blanc's body so she would face up, with Histoire initiating the treatment without further ado.

"...What happened...?" Histoire asked.

Noire bit her lip before answering. "...Neptune is back."

Histoire's eyes widened as she heard that. "R-Really...? H-How?" Though it didn't look like she was surprised big time.

"I hope I have the answer to that question..." Noire didn't expect Histoire to just react like that. She had expected her to be more bewildered, but she guessed that it was her nature not to be shocked too much.

"...Who was the person Vert just killed?" Histoire asked.

"Neptune." Noire immediately answered.

"Eh?" That seemed to have caught Histoire off-guard. "...But, you said she was just-"

"No, that was another Neptune. The real... Neptune flew away already with Nepgear." Noire said.

Histoire noticed uncertainties in Noire's words, but she didn't try to find it out for now as she got better things to ask. "So... that was a clone or something?"

Noire nodded in agreement. She just saw a very strong irony about Neptune earlier, and that made her raise a lot of doubts. Either way, she had to talk about this to everyone later.

After a short while, she heard a sound of rocks moving. She turned to the source and saw Vert standing up from the other side of the room. Good thing that the light was still shining a brightly so Noire could still see everything inside the room. At the same time, Blanc's breathing was gradually going back to normal. Noire then stood up and readied her sword, in case that Vert might go on a rampage again.

But, she sighed in relief after she saw what Vert did.

"...Ugh... what...?" Vert said as she fell on her knees while rubbing her temples.

"Vert! Are you okay?" Noire immediately rushed to her aid. "Sorry for hitting you earlier, but I can't think of any other way to stop you."

Vert swung her head. "No, it's fine. I am aware of what I did." Vert said as she stared at her palms, which was covered in blood. Actually, her whole body was covered in blood. "When I saw Blanc got stabbed... I felt... scared all of a sudden."

Noire couldn't say anything as a reply. She didn't know Vert that...

"...I don't want to see anyone die again..." Vert said and she sighed while she wept. "...Pretty ironic, right? I just killed Neptune."

"No, that wasn't the real Neptune, Vert."

Vert wasn't surprised to hear that. "Yes, I know. The real one already left with Nepgear." She said. "Either way, she still is Neptune."

That really wasn't what Noire was trying to say, but she thought that maybe her talk about her thoughts would have to wait until Histoire finishes her work. Either way, this wasn't really a good place to talk about it, so probably it would be for the best if they got out of Planeptune first.

But suddenly, Vert remembered something very important. "Where's Blanc by the way?!" She panickily asked as she shook Noire's shoulder. "Where is she, Noire?!"

Noire didn't expect that side of Vert... or so she thought. "Histoire's treating her wounds right now, so you don't have to worry anymore."

Vert sighed deeply in relief after hearing that. "Is... that so...? I'm glad...-" She then released Noire. Vert stood up and immediately rushed towards Histoire, who was still healing Blanc's wound, leaving Noire behind.

"..."

Noire could just bite her lips after Vert left.

 **~o~O~o~**

 _It felt so nice._

 _Yes, so nice._

 _It felt so nice, being close to my sister again and feel her warmth. I've never felt so alive again after all these years._

 _"..." I just stared at Neptune as she was carrying me back to the Basilicom. She didn't have any expression on her face other than a smiling one._

 _Ah, it's so comforting. I wished that this would last forever. I wanted her to stay with me, and not leave me again. Being separated from her was really excruciating, and I wouldn't want to experience something like that ever again._

 _Neptune saw me staring at her, and her smile widened a little. "Nepgear, close your eyes. It's not yet morning." She said in a soothing voice. "You can rest for now. I know you've been through a lot."_

 _I nodded and slowly closed my eyes. Yes, I could barely keep my eyes open all this time. A few hours of sleep would really be nice._

 _Yet... I couldn't help but think that something was wrong._

 _Why so?_

 _"..."_

 _Back in the cave... I knew that I heard a scream of pain._

 _But... I couldn't do anything... like... I'm completely… entranced… by… Neptune..._

 **~o~O~o~**

Planeptune.

As soon as Histoire finished treating Blanc's wounds, they set forth to Leanbox. Histoire wasn't able to fully heal Blanc's wounds because she found out that _something_ was preventing her from doing so, but she managed to stop the bleeding. She would need a proper room and materials to treat Blanc.

"How's Blanc, Histoire?" Vert asked. She was carrying Blanc in her arms, while Histoire was being carried by Noire.

Histoire swung her head. "I can't say anything solid for now, but her life is more or less still in danger."

"More or less?"

"I'll explain it later." Histoire said.

After that, Vert kept herself from asking questions, while Noire just stayed silent. Not long after that, they arrived at Leanbox. They headed straight to the Basilicom, but they didn't enter via the entrance. They used the window of Vert's room, as she didn't really want to get some attention. She was still covered in blood, after all. The two CPUs reverted their transformation as they got in.

"Go clean yourself, Vert. I'll assist Histoire in treating Blanc." Noire said. "Can't stand seeing you like that, and you reek of blood."

Vert was about to say something, but she held herself as she knew Noire was right. She was completely aware of what she had done, of course. Without further ado, she left them and entered the bathroom. Well, she kinda really needed it.

Noire looked for something sturdy and spacious to lie Blanc down but unfortunately, she couldn't find anything proper. The only thing that she could use was Vert's bed, in which she was reluctant in using. It was her bed, after all.

But there was no time to be hesitant now. Blanc's life was on the line here. She swung her head to clear her thoughts and lied Blanc down on the bed. Well, she just hoped that Vert wouldn't get grouchy later.

"Can you heal her now, Histoire?" Noire asked as the preparations were complete.

Histoire swung her head, which confused Noire. "I can't do it alone, I'll need both your and Vert's help."

After that, both Histoire and Noire turned to the bathroom's door with expectant looks. Not long after that, Vert went out, with only a towel covering her body. "I heard you. Give me a moment, I'll just get dressed."

Noire and Histoire nodded. In not more than five minutes, Vert was fully clothed. Not her usual dress, but just enough to cover her entire body.

"Alright, before we get started, I'll explain what happened to Blanc." Histoire said as she landed her tome beside Blanc. "Blanc's body is disconnected from her share reserves. Her shares couldn't flow in her body because something is blocking it."

Noire and Vert's eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time they heard of something like this. While they knew that they weren't invincible even with the power of shares, they surely didn't expect that it was possible to cut them off from their source of power.

"So, how do we solve this?"

Histoire then had a sour expression on her face. "I will need to find a solution in my manual... but it'll take me three days."

"You think Blanc would last that long?!" Vert then clenched her fists. "She would be dead before you find your solution!"

Histoire raised her right hand. "I know. That's why I said that I would need your help with this."

"You don't need our permission. I just want to save Blanc." Vert said as she calmed herself down. Noire wasn't bothered anymore about her attitude towards Blanc.

Histoire cleared her throat before speaking. "The energy that is blocking the shares is too strong, so we would need an equivalent or greater share energy to forcefully enter Blanc's body and negate it."

"That's it? Pretty simple, if you ask me." Vert said.

Histoire swung her head. Obviously, Vert didn't know anything. "No, it isn't that simple. That means, we're going to do it by force and overload Blanc's body with share energy until the virus inside her body is completely destroyed." Histoire explained and bit her lip afterward. "Suddenly overloading her with share energy can potentially destroy her body, now that it is disconnected from her share reserves."

With that, Vert and Noire suddenly became nervous. They had the solution on their hands, but that solution could also lead to Blanc's demise. It was a double-edged blade, indeed, but the fastest way to save Blanc. Both of them clenched their fists as they seriously gave it a thought. Blanc's life was at stake. They didn't know what to do, as whichever choice they pick could end up killing Blanc.

"T-Then, how about we do it slowly...?" Vert suggested.

Again, Histoire swung her head. "We can't. The small share energy we would force into her would just be eaten by that virus, so we need to shove large amounts of it in one go so the virus wouldn't be able to cope with the sudden change."

Noire and Vert gulped. It seemed like there was no other way to save Blanc. Either way, Blanc's going to die anyway if they wouldn't make any decision. At the very least, they could put their faith on her.

"...Let's do it." Vert finally made up her mind. Noire turned to her; she could already see from Vert's face that she was really against this, but they had no choice.

Noire turned back to Histoire. "If Vert's okay with it, then so do I." She said and nodded. "Let's save Blanc."

Histoire nodded in return and flew to the opposite side of the bed. "Come closer, I want you to place your hands on top of Blanc's wound." Histoire ordered as she placed hers on top of Blanc. "I will serve as the medium to channel your share energy to her body."

The two CPUs didn't say a word and just complied with Histoire's request. As they did so, Histoire floated on top of their hands and raised both of her hands. A short while after that, Histoire's body glowed, and chains came out of her tome, binding Blanc's body to the bed.

"Don't mind the chains; it's just an assurance." Histoire said. "Are you ready?"

Noire and Vert nodded without hesitation, though they were still not comfortable with the chains. But no, complaining about it wouldn't help Blanc, so they just shut their mouths up. "Please hold each other's hands tightly, and don't let go whatever happens." The two CPUs looked at each other first before doing so, clasping their hands together very tight. After learning that they were both ready, Histoire summoned a sharicite on her hands and placed it on top of their hands. "I'm saving this for Nepgear in the future, but now's not the time for hesitation."

The two CPUs felt bad after hearing that. Well, Histoire helped them a lot to solve lots of things. And now, she was going to help them again. Not just any simple help, but she was sacrificing one of Planeptune's important possessions.

"You don't need to feel bad about it." Histoire said as she knew what the two was thinking. "I can just make another, though it would take me three months to do so, it's not really a problem."

That didn't reassure the two CPUs.

"Okay, let's get started." Histoire said as she touched the sharicite. "Remember what I told you earlier."

They nodded. It looked like they were ready.

"Here goes...!"

Histoire broke the sharicite and the fragments of it went under Noire and Vert's hands, entering Blanc's wound. In an instant, Blanc's body glowed and jerked upward.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!"

Both Noire and Vert were surprised with Blanc's sudden cry. It seemed like she was in great pain, and even if she was unconscious, she could feel it. Vert was trying to pull her hands away, but Noire held it tightly, not even thinking if it would break her bones or not.

"Don't... let go...!" Histoire ordered. The share energy that was coming from Noire and Vert was continuously flowing into Blanc's body directly as she was guiding it using the fragments of the sharicite. Without it, the share energy would just leak out of their bodies, and their reserves would collapse in no time.

Blanc's cries continued as they kept the huge flow of share energy flowing to Blanc's body. A minute after that, Noire could already feel her breathing getting heavier. The same could be said with Vert, but she was breathing heavier than Noire. Histoire noticed that they were already losing their strength, but they weren't done yet. She knew that there were still small traces of the virus, as she could still feel some fragments of the sharicite running inside Blanc's body. The sharicite was still eliminating the virus.

"Don't let go! We're not yet done!" Histoire ordered.

Ten seconds have passed, Histoire still didn't give the stop signal. Noire could feel her body getting hotter and heavier, but she didn't give up just yet. The same as well with Vert, though she was in a worse condition than Noire. Her eyes were already closing as she gritted her teeth.

"H...His...toire, how... much longer...?" Noire tried to ask, but she wished that she didn't because it took her a lot just to say one word.

Histoire already knew that both of them were already past their limits, but the cleansing was still not done. "I know I have no rights to say this, but please hold out just a bit longer!"

Noire didn't say a word after that and just held on Vert's hand tighter. She couldn't take it anymore. She could pass out any second now, and Vert was indifferent. The only thing that was keeping them conscious was their will to save Blanc.

"Just a little more...!" Histoire said as she kept her focus on the sharicite fragments in Blanc's body. She could feel the fragments' presence gradually disappearing. That means the fragments were eradicating the virus along with itself.

As soon as Histoire felt that the sharicite was completely gone, "It's done! Pull out now!" She ordered. At the same instant, Noire and Vert pulled their hands away from Blanc, but because their strength was drained, they easily lost their balance and fell on the floor with their backs. The two of them were catching their breaths, as that ordeal seriously took a lot of their strengths. The chains that bound Blanc also disappeared, with Blanc's cries stopped and her body fell down on the bed.

"How... is Blanc... Histoire...?" Vert asked while still lying down.

Histoire looked at Blanc. Her body light covering her body was slowly disappearing, and her wound was slowly closing as well.

"You two did a fine work. Blanc's in good shape now." Histoire said and gave Vert a reassuring smile. "Though it would take a few days before she wakes up."

Vert then cracked a smile. "Is... that so...? That's good... to hear...-" At the same moment, Vert passed out. Histoire wasn't surprised though. What surprised her though was Noire was already sitting up.

"Are you alright, Noire? Don't force yourself." Histoire said with concern. But Noire just swung her head after taking a deep breath.

But Noire just swung her head after taking a deep breath. "No… I can't afford… to pass out now." She said as she crawled beside the bed and leaned on it. It seemed like she was indeed forcing herself, as she was still short on breathing.

Histoire sighed. There was no talking Noire out of her stubbornness. "If that is what you want, then I won't stop you." She said. "I need to go back to Planeptune now. Nepgear might be looking for me."

That somehow caught Noire's attention. "Are you daft, Histoire?! Did you already forget that… it was Neptune who almost killed Blanc?"

Histoire had no answer for that. Even though she knew that it was a clone who hurt Blanc, it wouldn't take a genius person to know that it was Neptune's doing as well.

"Don't go back to Planeptune for now. I am confident that Nepgear isn't going to be herself anymore." Noire said.

That statement confused Histoire. "What do you mean by that?"

Noire took a deep breath before talking. "The Neptune who got revived isn't also the real Neptune." She said. Her breathing's gradually going back to normal, and she was glad for that as she can finally talk normally, but she could still feel her body a little heavy. "Both the one that Vert killed, and the one with Nepgear, are fakes. And for a clone of Neptune to appear right when she came back… you know what I'm saying, right?"

Histoire nodded reluctantly, as she still had some uncertain thoughts. "Not to doubt you or anything but, do you have any evidence for that?" Histoire asked. It would make sense, well, partially only, if only one was fake. But both?

Noire took another deep breath before answering. "I'm sure you already know that since you are recording history." She said. "Something that wouldn't match Neptune's qualities."

Histoire was silent. What Noire said was true, and Histoire just remembered as Noire mentioned it. She knew what had happened in Celestia, and how Neptune died. She sacrificed herself to make them realize what the most important thing was, and comparing it from Noire's assertion earlier, the information Histoire had about Neptune wouldn't indeed match.

"I... I guess you're right." Histoire surrendered. She didn't know if her staying away from Planeptune, for now, was the best thing to do, but until they obtain enough information about the current situation, it was the least she could do.

"As long as you understand." Noire said. "You can stay in my Basilicom for the time being. I could use some help in setting up the defenses. It's time to use _that_. And with your help, I'm sure we could finish it in no time."

Histoire raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"I, Vert, and Blanc have been developing a defense system in the case when... well, pardon my assumptions... when Nepgear attacks us." Noire said as she looked away.

Histoire didn't know what to feel about that, but at the same time, she couldn't blame them at all. Well, it was just normal for them to create something like that to protect their people, and she was sure that she'd do the same if she was in their shoes.

"But... we still haven't finished it." Noire said.

"I could understand that, but I told you before that Nepgear isn't the type of person to do that."

Noire swung her head in disagreement. "Not Nepgear anymore, Histoire, but Neptune." Noire said. "Given what she did to Blanc, I'm not going to doubt myself about this one."

"Alright then, but you still haven't answered my question earlier. About Nepgear not being herself anymore."

Noire took a few deep breaths. While her breathing going back to its usual pacing, her fatigue was something she couldn't ignore. "Just think about it, Histoire... it would be pretty normal for Nepgear to wish for Neptune's return... And now that she's back..."

Histoire made an 'ah' expression after finally getting what Noire was trying to say. "...Nepgear would never shed a single doubt about her sister, right...?"

"Yes, that's correct. And that way, Neptune can manipulate her in any way she wanted."

Now, Histoire was glad that she decided to stay away from Planeptune for the time being. While they had no actual proof that it could happen, it was better safe than sorry. They couldn't let what happened to Blanc happen to anyone else.

"Alright, then. I'll do as you say for now, but on one condition." Histoire said. Noire nodded in reply, implying that she was ready to listen to her request. "You're going to save Nepgear as well."

"You don't need to tell me that. That's the plan all along." Noire said as she rested her head on the bed. "In any case, I assume that Nepgear holds all the secrets to Neptune's return, so we have to separate her from her sister."

Histoire didn't reply after that. Though she could agree with Noire, she was sure that Uzume knew something as well, since she was most of the time, if not always, with Nepgear. But alas, she didn't have the means to find her. Histoire then just floated to the pantry and took a cup of water and gave it to Noire. The Lastation CPU thanked her and drank it.

"Let's go back to your Basilicom once you're feeling better." Histoire said as she took the empty cup from Noire. "It'd be nice if we could talk to Vert before we go but I guess we don't have the time for that."

"Don't worry, I'll just call her later..." Noire said as she closed her eyes.

 **~o~O~o~**

A week had passed.

Inside Leanbox's Basilicom, specifically in Vert's room, Blanc was lying down on the bed. She was in that state for days and counting, not showing any signs of awakening. But of course, she wasn't alone. There was Vert sitting on a chair at the window, beside the bed, reading a book.

The weather outside was so pleasant. Vert was glancing once in a while outside the window as she read her book. When she woke up a few hours after passing out a week ago, she found out that Noire and Histoire had already left. But the next day, she received a call from Noire and relayed everything she and Histoire discussed about Neptune and their plans about the defense system. She didn't think twice and agreed to it, but she had to take care of Blanc as well. That was why she wasn't in Lastation right now.

"..."

Vert was patiently waiting for Blanc to wake up from her sleep.

"..."

The day had passed. Blanc still didn't wake up. It was already nighttime, so it was time for her to sleep. She was also working on Uni's request during the mornings but so far, she hadn't found a single clue yet about the missing person.

Maybe tomorrow, something fruitful would happen.

Who was she kidding though? She had been saying that to herself for days, but the results were indifferent. Yet, she never once gave up and believed that something good will come out of it.

Vert decided to sleep for the night and hoped that something nice would happen tomorrow.

 **~o~O~o~**

The next day, Vert woke up at exactly eight in the morning. She was using the vacant room next to hers, as Blanc occupied her room. She went to the bathroom and did her morning routine of washing her face then taking a bath, though she should've taken the latter one first and forget the former one.

After taking a bath, she changed into her usual outfit and headed to her room. She found Blanc on her bed, still unconscious.

"…Blanc…"

She had this worried look on her face. It was already a week and a day since Blanc was in a coma. Though of course, worrying about her would not wake her up, but Vert couldn't help it.

"…"

She then checked up on Blanc, but so far, her condition was still the same. In the past days, she should be helping Noire in developing the defense system, but she couldn't leave Blanc alone, so she just let Noire do it. Noire didn't complain, in fact, it was her who suggested that she'd take care of the development with Histoire and just told Vert to stay beside Blanc since she… needed it. But of course, it wouldn't be like her to just leave everything to Noire, so at the very least, she prepared all the necessary things for the defense system to be connected to Leanbox, and sent all information Noire needed for the development. That was what she was also doing in the past days. Her next target was supposed to be in Lowee, but she had to wait for Blanc to wake up first.

And speaking of waking up, to the Goddess of Convenience…

"…Uuuggghhhh…"

Vert heard a voice. She was surprised as she realized that it wasn't just anyone's voice.

"Blanc?!"

Yes, that was Blanc's voice. Vert could see Blanc trying to open her eyes as she groaned. She rushed to Blanc's side and sat down beside the bed. "Are you alright, Blanc? Do you remember me…?"

Blanc slowly turned to Vert. Her vision was a little blurry, and her hearing was a little distorted, but nevertheless, "Uuuuhhhh… Vert…?"

"Blanc…?! Yes, it's me, Vert!" Vert reached for her hands. "Thank goddess, you're finally awake!"

Blanc tried to sit up, but she couldn't find the strength to do so. Vert saw what she just tried to do and assisted her to sit up.

"What… the hell happened… Vert…?" Blanc asked as she turned to Vert.

"You were almost killed by Neptune… a fake Neptune, to be precise, and was infected by a virus." Vert said. "The virus severed your connection from your share reserves but we managed to restore that, in a forceful way."

Blanc didn't say anything and just rubbed her temples. She could feel her head a little heavy, and her body pressured like it was being twisted like laundry clothes. "So… that's why… I'm feeling like hammered shit…"

Vert felt bad about that. "I'm sorry, but we can't find a safer solution to restore that link, so me, Noire, and Histoire overloaded your body with share energy to destroy the virus despite you being not connected to your reserves."

"No, no, I'm grateful for that." Blanc then smiled at Vert. "I wouldn't be here anymore if it wasn't for you girls."

Vert melted as she saw Blanc's smile. To be frank, it was her first time seeing Blanc smile that it made her heart flutter. She didn't realize that she had been staring at Blanc for a while now.

"…Vert?"

Vert jolted a little as she snapped out of her… whatever she was doing. "Y-Yeah…?"

"I'm asking about that fake Neptune you mentioned earlier." Blanc said.

Oh, Vert must've been out of herself. She cleared her throat before she started talking about the past days. From the part where Blanc got stabbed, up to their talk about setting up the defense system they had been developing for years; everything Histoire and Noire talked about while she was out, especially Noire's hypothesis about Neptune's future attack. But she omitted some details, specifically that part when she massacred the fake, or Neptune clone. Blanc didn't need to know about that since it wouldn't change anything.

"I see… shit's really going grim if Noire made a conclusion like that." She and Vert hated to admit it, but Noire's judgment about situations was something they can trust. Well, judging also from what happened to Blanc, it would only be normal to conclude that as well. "More importantly, I need to go back to Lowee and get things going."

Blanc tried to slip out of the bed, but Vert stopped her by grabbing onto her shoulders. "What are you saying, Blanc?! You still need to rest!"

"Don't shit with me, Vert. I have to do this." Blanc said as she grabbed on Vert's arms. Despite being weak from her injury, her brute strength was something that can't be underestimated.

"Yeah, I know. But do that only when you're fully recovered." Vert said. "There's no guarantee that you'll be able to reach Lowee in your condition."

"Even so, I-"

Before Blanc could say another excuse, Vert pushed her down to the bed. "No! Stop being so reckless, Blanc!" Vert only managed to do that because Blanc wasn't in her full strength. "For once, listen to what I'm saying!"

Blanc was surprised as she got pinned down on the bed, partly because of the pain she felt run through her body. She didn't expect that side of Vert, if she were going to be honest. But of course, everyone knew that Blanc was a hard-headed person, so she wouldn't back down with this one.

"I'm thankful that you're worried about me, but when it comes to my people, I ain't just gonna sleep in here." Blanc said. "So, get off me, Vert."

"I know, but like I said, you're not in the condition to do that!" Vert said as her grip tightened. "Look at yourself in the mirror to see what I'm saying!"

Blanc gritted her teeth. "I don't give a shit about that. I can handle myself." She said as she glared at Vert. "Get off me. Now."

Vert gritted her teeth as well as she tightened her grips on Blanc's shoulder, in hopes that the Lowee CPU would back down, but no, it just solidified her determination.

"Get off me now, Vert."

But Vert didn't back down as well. "No! Not until you stay here and rest!"

Now, Blanc lost all of her patience. She gathered all of her strength and grabbed Vert's shoulders. "I said GET THE HELL OFF ME!" She then shoved Vert away from her.

"Kyaaah-!" Vert cried as she fell down on the floor.

Blanc ignored all the pain in her body and slipped out of the bed. "I'm sorry, Vert."

"Blanc, no!"

But Blanc didn't listen to her and just jumped out of the window and attempted to transform. Her body was covered in light as her transformation initiated, but as soon as it disappeared, she didn't change, retaining her human form.

"Huh…?" Blanc was confused as she fell down.

As Vert saw that Blanc's transformation fail, she stood up propelled herself forward, out of the window. "BLANC!" She then chased Blanc.

They were at the fourth level of the Basilicom, and Blanc would fall down to the ground in no time. Vert maximized her speed to catch Blanc before she would hit the ground. Right when Blanc's head was just an inch away from the ground, Vert already tripled her speed and caught Blanc before she could crash. She then made a quick change of direction and flew forward, but because of the additional weight she just acquired, her back slid on the ground, losing control of her flight, and ultimately crashing into a nearby tree.

"AGH-!" Vert's back crashed hard on the tree. She rolled her body forward before she was about to make her crash to prevent Blanc from getting injured, resulting in her own injury. Vert's crash was too strong that the tree was split into two.

Blanc slowly opened her eyes as she deemed that she was already safe. Vert's arms were wrapped around her tightly.

"Vert, are you okay?"

But she heard no replies; she only received a tightened embrace.

"We're good now, Vert. You can let me go." Blanc said as she tried to break free, but Vert only embraced her tighter. "…Vert?"

"Is it really that hard for you to listen to me?" Vert asked. Though Blanc couldn't see her completely, she knew that Vert was tearing up. "I just want you to rest and recover. I'm not going to keep you here forever. Is that really too much for you?"

Blanc was speechless. She felt bad, of course. She knew that Vert injured herself to protect her.

"I'm sorry, Vert… but…" Before she could say another word, Vert embraced her slightly tighter than before, not wanting to let her go.

Blanc didn't know what to do. She had never seen this side of Vert before. The feeling of Vert being close to her, was a different feeling for her. Yet, she didn't hate it.

"Okay… I give up." Blanc said as she sighed some weight off her chest. She felt bad already for being a burden to Vert, and she didn't want to add her stubbornness to that. Vert's embrace loosened and ultimately released Blanc. They then sat up on the ground, facing each other, with Vert wiping her tears off as she reverted her transformation. Blanc could see Vert's scraped right arm, but it was healing itself. Still, she felt bad, of course.

"I'll do as you say, but on one condition." Blanc said. Vert nodded as a reply. "I will rest in my Basilicom, and you're going to fly me there." She demanded. "And of course, you're going to help me set up the defense system."

Vert blinked twice and chuckled. "What's so funny?!"

"See, was that really hard to ask for?" Vert said after calming herself down.

Blanc raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about now?"

Vert didn't answer and just gave her a smile, but Blanc couldn't get what she was trying to say. Though giving it a few moments to think about, Blanc finally got what Vert was trying to say. "Don't tell me… This was your plan all along? To make you help me?"

With that, Vert laughed, which irked the Lowee CPU. "Yes, although I didn't expect you to push me away and jump out of the window." She said as she tried to kill her laughs, but she managed only slightly. "I didn't want to offer my help because I know you wouldn't accept it, so I made you ask for it."

"You're an evil person, you know that?" Blanc said as she sighed in defeat.

"Believe me, I know that myself as well."

 **~o~O~o~**

Vert flew all the way to Lowee after her ordeal with Blanc earlier, with her carrying the Lowee CPU in her arms. Short while afterward, they landed in front of Lowee's Basilicom, with Vert turning off her HDD form. Blanc told Vert to put her down as she didn't really want to give her staffs a huge misunderstanding, in which Vert understood and complied, though she particularly didn't care if they would misunderstand it or not. Blanc still needed her assistance when walking though.

As soon as they stepped inside the Basilicom, they were greeted by large amounts of people. They were happy to see their CPU back, of course. Blanc asked Vert why her people in the Basilicom weren't in disarray since she was missing in action for a week. Vert answered her that she informed the Basilicom beforehand that she was resting in Leanbox, so there was nothing to worry about. Blanc didn't like that idea but she was grateful because her disappearance didn't cause any damage.

They entered the elevator and went a few floors up. Since the elevator wasn't taking them straight to Blanc's room, they stepped out of it two floors below their destination, as the last two floors weren't accessible by their transport. They headed to the staircase, but Blanc didn't seem to be happy about it. Her legs were shaking, and she wasn't sure if she could make it all the way up.

And of course, Vert noticed it.

"Do you remember what I said to you before when we were traveling to the other dimension?" Vert asked Blanc as they were standing at the staircase.

"Huh? What are you-?"

But before Blanc could say anything, Vert lifted her up and carried her in her arms, which of course, surprised the Lowee CPU.

"What the hell are you doing?! Put me down!" Blanc demanded.

Vert grinned at her. "Should you really be saying that now? You and I both know that you wouldn't last a quarter way up."

Blanc didn't argue with that. If anything, she herself knew her current capability. But still, she didn't like this idea, as she could see that this was Vert's plan all along and she was enjoying this.

"Well, if you have no more objections, off we go~!" Vert then started to walk slowly upstairs.

Yep, Vert indeed was enjoying this. Too much, specifically.

"Can't you walk faster? We're not that far from my room so why are we taking too damn long?!" Blanc said.

But of course, Vert just mused at her. "I don't want to trip myself so I'm taking every step carefully."

Vert had a point, but Blanc could see that it wasn't really what she was trying to do. Well, she didn't know Vert's antics for years for nothing. "If you don't start walking faster now, I'm gonna kick your ass out of here this instant."

"Come on now, Blanc. That's not nice. For me and for yourself."

"Who said that I do nice things?" Blanc said. "Now, walk faster or I seriously am gonna kick you."

Vert pouted and just complied with Blanc's request. Despite her having a greater advantage over Blanc right now, she didn't really want to piss off this tiny bundle of rage of a goddess.

After a short while, they arrived at Blanc's room. Vert entered without further ado and laid Blanc on her bed.

"Want me to join you?" Vert asked with a playful look on her face.

"Yeah, if you want me to punch you in the face."

"I'm just joking, don't take it seriously." Vert said as she stepped away from the bed.

Blanc narrowed her eyes as she stared at Vert. To her eyes, it didn't look like she was joking.

"Anyways, I'm going to prepare the necessary things for the defense system. You can help us once you're done resting; I know you're tired from our travel earlier." Vert said as she headed for the door, but she stopped halfway as she heard her phone ring. She immediately took it out to check who was calling and found out that it was Noire.

"Hello, Noire? What's up?" Vert asked after answering the call.

 _"Is Blanc awake yet?"_ Noire asked.

Vert turned to Blanc, who was looking at her as well. She then walked closer to her. "Yeah, she's awake now. We're in currently in Lowee."

 _"Perfect. We're almost done with the development of the system's mechanism. I and Histoire altered a few functions; it should've been finished yesterday, but yeah, there's that."_ Noire said. _"But that's not why I called today."_

"We're listening." Vert said as she put the call into loudspeaker so Blanc could also hear the conversation.

 _"We decided to put the control system there in Lowee, as it is the farthest from Planeptune."_ Noire said. _"I hope Blanc has no objection with that."_

Blanc didn't think twice and agreed with it. "That's fine with me."

 _"Cool. I'll just inform you later once we're done, so we'll be able to transfer it there."_ Noire said and hung up.

"Well, there we have it." Vert said as she placed her phone back in her pocket. "Rest up now, you'll need a lot of energy later."

Blanc then rolled to the other side. "You don't need to tell me that."

Vert smiled. "Alright, I'll get going now." Vert said as she headed for the door. "Sweet dreams, Blanc." She then went out of the room.

What Vert missed after leaving the room was the look Blanc had in her face.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee's Basilicom – Nighttime.

Blanc slowly opened her eyes. As soon as she got her vision back, she met the ceiling of her room. She felt refreshed as well. Probably because she was in her home that she could recover very fast. Either way, she liked her comfy bed, that's probably another reason.

And also, the lights were on. She didn't know why.

She sat up and stretched her arms upward to ease the stiffness of her body from sleep. She didn't feel any pain anymore as she moved her limbs. Yes, she was one-hundred percent sure that she had fully recovered.

She looked outside the windows and noticed that it was already dark. Well, it was nighttime. She slept through the day, and of course, she needed it. But since it was already evening, all that was left for her was to sleep again since working during the night didn't seem to be very healthy.

"…"

She scanned her room. It was her usual room, nothing sort of unusual.

Except for one.

"…Vert."

Blanc saw Vert sitting on the floor, beside her bed. Her head and arms were laid on top of the bed, and she was sleeping soundly. Blanc tried to reach for Vert and attempted to wake her up, but she stopped halfway as she realized how peaceful Vert's sleeping face was. She subconsciously thought that she didn't need to wake her up.

Blanc just smiled unconsciously. Vert must've been tired from all the work she did earlier, and again, she felt bad because she couldn't help her. In any case, Blanc was going to repay her soon. As she was drowned in her thoughts, she didn't realize that she was already caressing Vert's hair, but she didn't stop even after she learned what she was doing.

"…" Blanc felt her cheeks went a little hotter the more she caressed Vert's hair and stared at her. As soon as she got embarrassed by herself, she took her hand back and looked away from Vert and then decided that it was best for her to go back to sleep.

She was about to lie down when she realized that she couldn't just leave Vert like that. To her eyes as well, that position seemed to be very uncomfortable, even for her. She wondered how in good heavens Vert managed to sleep like that, but then again, when fatigue strikes, anything could be a bed, for as long as the body can rest.

Blanc slowly slipped out of the bed and went behind Vert. She then lifted her up; Vert's weight was something she noticed, but she nonetheless didn't have issues in lifting her up. In fact, she had expected her to weigh more, because of… well, you know, something she didn't want to mention. She carefully laid her down on the bed and pulled the sheets up to cover her body. Blanc was glad that Vert didn't wake up, so she went to the other side of the bed and put herself inside the sheets as well.

"Sweet dreams, Vert." Blanc then rolled and faced the other side.

Short while after that, without Blanc knowing, Vert cracked a smile.

 **~o~O~o~**

8:00AM

Blanc slowly opened her eyes as she woke up from her sleep. Again, she met the ceiling of her room. She had a very long sleep, that was why she was feeling a little light-headed, but that didn't stop her from not going back to sleep. Enough sleep is enough.

She tried to sit up, but she wasn't able to lift her body up. She then turned to her left side and was surprised to see Vert hugging her as she slept. Her arms and legs were wrapped around Blanc, embracing her tightly like a body pillow.

"…"

Blanc stared at Vert's sleeping face. If she were going to be honest with herself, she found Vert's sleeping face a little cute. Yep, just a little.

"…"

She poked Vert's cheek, but she hardly got any response. She poked her again; this time, Vert's eyelids shook a little, seemingly trying to open itself. But not long after that, Vert calmed down and pulled Blanc closer to her.

"…"

Blanc sighed. Maybe she needed some force to wake this person beside her, but it would be outright cruel to shock her.

"Oi, Vert. Wake up." Blanc said. No response from Vert. Instead, Vert cuddled at her like a child.

While Blanc's motivation to wake Vert up was depleting, she couldn't give up just yet. They had work waiting for them and going back to sleep would never be an option. The work ain't going to finish itself.

"Wake up, Vert!" Blanc said as she repeatedly poked Vert's cheeks. Not long after that, Vert's eyes opened.

"Uuuuggghh… is it morning already?"

Blanc then pinched her cheeks. "Yes, it is, you sleepyhead. Now get off me and take a shower. We have work to do."

But, with everything Blanc did, Vert's response was the one thing she didn't want hear. "Uhhh… let's just forget that and sleep… it's so comfortable here…" Vert said as she pulled Blanc closer a little and cuddled on her chest.

"Get the hell up already or I'll throw you out of the bed!" Blanc said as she popped a nerve and tried to break away from Vert, but she couldn't. She was mad because, well, she really wanted to know which part Vert was comfortable with, the bed or-

But Vert stood her ground… well, that's not quite right. But yeah, she stayed still on her position. Blanc's fuse finally burned out.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

With that, Vert's eyes shot open and she attempted to break away from Blanc, but she was too late as Blanc already stood up on the bed and lifted her body up.

"Ah." The face Vert made was the face when one just realized that they were screwed.

Blanc then flipped Vert upside down, wrapping her arms onto Vert's legs, and then slammed her back down on the bed, like that move of a certain wrestler in which the name came from the name of the wrestler himself. She might've said that she would throw her out of the bed, but of course, she ain't that cruel to do that to Vert.

"Unyahh-~"

Well, the bed was soft, after all.

"Get up now or you'll find yourself on the floor next." Blanc said as she slipped out of the bed and went out of the room.

Vert sat up on the bed. While the bed was soft, her back still felt a little pain. She just smiled afterward. This would be an exciting stayover, was what she had in her mind.

 **~o~O~o~**

As soon as Vert finished her shower, she went out of the bathroom with a towel covering her body, only to find out Blanc sitting on the bed, with a set of clothes and undergarments beside her.

"My, is that for me, Blanc?" Vert asked, though she already knew the answer since she didn't bring anything with her as she arrived in Lowee.

"Yeah, it is, unless you're an exhibitionist." Blanc said as she stood up. "Go to the dining room. Breakfast's set." She said as she went into the bathroom to take her shower.

Vert put on the clothes Blanc just gave her. To her surprise, Blanc's fashion wasn't so shabby. The clothes had the same color palette as her usual dress, but not a dress apparently. It was a sleeveless green and white shirt, a little bit open on the chest part, with a red and yellow ribbon around the collar part. The skirt was colored white and light pink, and very short, but she didn't particularly care, as it was paired with a pair of thigh-length white stockings. A belt of pink and white color, with the pink one looked like an attachment only, but its purpose was not to tighten the shirt or the skirt in any way.

"Fufu, I wonder what would be her reaction after she sees this…" Vert said as she looked in the mirror. Not being narcissistic in any way, but she could see how beautiful she looked in this outfit. Majestic, in a nutshell.

Vert was so immersed in front of the mirror that she didn't know Blanc got out of the shower.

"You're still here?"

Vert turned to Blanc. She didn't say anything as a reply and instead, she just smiled at her struck a pose.

"What? Am I supposed to say something?" Blanc asked.

"Aww, come on. Don't be so stingy with your words, Blanc."

But Blanc didn't particularly care about that. "You ain't gettin' nothing from me." She said as she walked to her closet. "Get out of the room, I'm going to change."

"We're both girls, what's the problem?" Vert then walked towards Blanc but she didn't let her come any closer.

"YOU are the problem, that's why." Blanc said as she dodged Vert's arms as she saw her attempt to hug her. "Now go to the dining room and wait for me there."

Vert pouted a little but then it turned to a smile afterward. Despite getting treated like a dumpster, she knew that it was just Blanc's way of showing… uh, affection? Yeah, maybe.

"Sure thing, dear." Vert said as she headed for the door.

"Call me that again and I'm going to gag you." Blanc said as she opened the closet.

Vert didn't say anything and just chuckled as she exited the door. Blanc sighed in relief after she left and then started to change to her usual clothes. As soon as she was done, she headed for the door and went out of the room.

She wasn't even surprised with what she saw afterward.

"Why aren't you listening to what I'm saying?"

Yep, Vert was there, just outside Blanc's room, waiting for her to finish changing.

"You know; it would be a little awkward for me to stay in the dining room alone." Vert replied.

"What makes you think that we're going to be alone?" Blanc asked.

Vert chuckled a little. "Well, you have anyone to eat breakfast with you?"

Blanc was silent after that. She didn't, of course, and there was no one in the Basilicom that would dare to join her for breakfast.

Vert chuckled again. "Don't worry, I'll join you in breakfast every day starting today."

Blanc's eyebrow twitched. Obviously, Vert was getting full of herself already. "…This will be your first and last breakfast here in my Basilicom."

"I'm kidding." Vert said as she started to walk towards their destination, with Blanc following her from behind.

Blanc just sighed.

 **~o~O~o~**

After breakfast, Vert and Blanc headed to the control room. It was set up beside the room where Blanc's share reserves were located. As soon as they got inside, Blanc was overwhelmed by several terminals stationed in the room.

"Wow, you set this all up by yourself yesterday?" Blanc said in awe.

Vert swung her head. "Of course not. Your people helped me, and Noire as well."

"Noire? Was she here yesterday?"

"No, but we communicated via our computers." Vert said as she walked towards a certain laptop placed on one of the terminals. "I flew back home and back here again to get this."

Blanc was speechless. Though that didn't last long.

"So, what we got left?"

Vert then powered on the terminals, and on the big screen in front of them, a large logo of a power button appeared. "There's still a lot of work to do, but before that, we need your network to be connected to the server Histoire created first. This would make your people be able to travel freely from Lowee to Leanbox or Lastation and back." She explained. "But since you were sleeping the whole day yesterday, we failed to do that."

"So that was what the new feature Noire mentioned yesterday." Blanc said. "Anyways, what about the people in Planeptune?"

Vert frowned before swinging her head. "Sadly, we can't do anything for them, even with Histoire on our side." She said. "Nepgear holds the authority with regards to that, and Histoire would need to go back to Planeptune to get that list, but that's a bad idea."

"I see…" Blanc said.

"Though Nepgear is included in our list as well."

That one caught Blanc off-guard. "What?! What the hell are you guys thinking for doing that?!"

"Did you already forget what we talked about yesterday?"

Blanc recalled their conversation. It was the time when Vert was relaying the plan Noire and Histoire talked about. As she was reminiscing it, she remembered something about saving Nepgear. She kinda forgot the details about it though.

"I remember you saying about rescuing Nepgear, is that it?"

Vert nodded. "Yes. In case you forgot, Nepgear holds the information we don't know about Neptune's return, fake or not, so we need to get her away from Planeptune, but that comes after we finish establishing the system."

"Is that so…?"

Vert just nodded again as a reply. "Yes. Now, let's get to work." Vert said as she initialized the software. "You know what to do now, right?" She asked as she stood up from her seat.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Blanc sat down on Vert's chair and started to work.

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Planeptune._

 _Inside a very spacious room in Planeptune's Basilicom, a throne was erected at the far end, opposite to the door. But that wasn't all. A woman was sitting on the said throne, with a glass of wine on her right hand._

 _"…"_

 _Beside her… on the floor, a girl was leaning on her legs, in which, she just let her do what she wanted. She wasn't doing anything, per se, just enjoying her company._

 _"…"_

 _The woman looked at the girl beside her. She was staring at her, in which the woman on the throne just replied with a smile. She then caressed the girl's hair._

 _"Nepgear…"_

 _Yes, it was Nepgear. The CPU… yes, the CPU of Planeptune, who was the one leaning on the woman's legs all this time._

 _"Sis…"_

 _Nepgear didn't say anything afterward and just kept on staring at sister._

 _Her sister, yes. Neptune, the former CPU of Planeptune. She just returned to Planeptune last week, and announced her homecoming to her citizens a few days ago. The people were delighted when they learned that their CPU came back after ten years, and of course, Nepgear as well._

 _"…"_

 _Though Nepgear was happy, she could feel that something was off. But she had no idea what that was, or she just forgot about it._

 _"Is something bothering you, Nepgear…?"_

 _As soon as Nepgear heard that, she swung her head. "No… I'm… fine." She replied slowly._

 _Neptune frowned a little. "Okay, but if you're worried about something, please do tell me." She then smiled._

 _Nepgear smiled as well as she nodded. Not long after that, someone entered the room and kneeled in front of them as he got close._

 _"Lady Purple Heart, we found the target." The person said as he lifted his head and showed an envelope to Neptune. "She is residing in a village in the outskirts, near the Lastation Border."_

 _After hearing that, Neptune patted Nepgear's head, implying that she was going to stand up. Nepgear broke away from Neptune, and Neptune stood up afterward, walking towards the person in front of them and retrieving the envelope. She looked at the contents of the package and saw several pictures of a certain woman._

 _"Nepgear, get ready. We have work to do." Neptune said as she slightly grinned._

 _Nepgear missed the look Neptune had on her face as she made her exit._

 _"Planeptune's glory shall be known to all of Gamindustri."_

 **~o~O~o~**

Three days had passed.

On a certain morning, Vert woke up at exactly seven in the morning. Lately, she was okay with waking up early. Well, probably because she wasn't spending that much time on her hobbies anymore. For some reason, she couldn't find the mood to do it.

She slipped out of her bed and headed towards the bathroom to take a bath. She got back from Lowee yesterday as setting up the defense terminal was faster because she and Blanc were working together. Also, the main terminal was transported to Lowee yesterday as well, so everything was set up. All that's left was to activate it, and today would be that day.

After doing so, she changed into her usual outfit and then headed to the dining room and ate breakfast. As she was eating, she saw a news on the TV about a burned village near the Lastation Border, on the outskirts of Planeptune.

"…?!"

Vert suddenly ran closer to the TV as she learned what the news was showing. The village that was burned down was the one when she, Noire, and Blanc met up with Histoire!

"Who could do such thing…?"

But alas, she didn't find an answer for that. She just hoped that Noire's people near the Planeptune border weren't affected, even though it was miles away from it. Before she could lose her appetite, she turned the TV off and finished her breakfast.

She headed to her office afterward, as it was already a while since the last time she worked on Uni's request. That CPU candidate must be expecting something from her now, but of course, Vert wouldn't be able to give her anything if she had nothing.

"Alright, let's get to work." Vert said as she turned on her computer on. As it booted up, she checked again the report of the incident Uni mentioned. She had read this report dozens of times already, but she still did so again just to make sure.

She was having a hard time because everyone involved in the accident was declared deceased, and so, the first thing she had to do was to confirm who was the missing person. But then, she didn't know who that was.

"Wait… maybe I should've asked Uni about that missing person first…?"

She mentally slapped herself for not thinking about that sooner. She sighed before taking her telephone up and dialed Lastation's Basilicom's landline. She didn't have Uni's cellphone number so she would be calling her home. She waited for a few moments before someone answered.

 _"Hello, this is Noire speaking. How may I help you?"_

Ah, of course, it was Noire who would pick up. "Good morning, Noire. Is Uni awake yet?"

 _"Yeah, she is. What do you need from her?"_

That sounded like a suspicious Noire, but Vert didn't have the energy to mention that. "Ah, I just want to ask her something about her request to me a week ago."

 _"Alright, I'll call her. Give me a minute."_

Vert thanked her afterward, but not sure if Noire had left already before she could say that. Just a few moments, a different voice spoke from the phone. _"Hello, Ms. Vert. I heard that you want to ask me something?"_

Wow, she cut to the chase already, huh? Vert could've wished that she could have a small fun talk with Uni but she herself knew that it wasn't the time for that. "Ah, Uni. I just want to ask if you have any information regarding that missing person you told me."

 _"Ah, sorry for not telling you that beforehand."_ Uni said. _"I don't have her name, but that person is a girl with light pink hair."_

"Light pink hair…" Vert mumbled as she scrolled on the list of people involved. She found three people matching that information. "There are three people with light pink hair, one is wearing purple clothes, the other is wearing blue, and the last one is wearing… uh… somewhat beige or white sweater."

 _"That last one! She's the one that's been missing!"_ Uni screamed. Vert heard Noire's voice from the background, telling Uni to lower her voice down.

"Her name is Compa, age 25." Vert said. "Are you sure she's the one, Uni?"

 _"Yes, I'm positive. The Guild agent showed me a picture of her."_ Uni said. _"Just to be sure again, that girl has a long hair past her shoulders, right?"_

Vert checked the other two who had the same hair color. The first one only had a short hair, just under her ear, and the other one had shoulder-length. "Yes, that's true. So this is the person you're looking for."

 _"Yes, Ms. Vert. Do you need anything else?"_

"This is enough information. Leave it to me." Vert said.

 _"Thank you, Ms. Vert!"_

Vert chuckled a little. "Anything for you, Uni." She said before hanging up.

She then opened a software from her computer called Goddess' Eye. It was a software she and Blanc developed for satellite navigation, which covers the whole world. It can also be used to search for people, but that didn't mean it can be used for spying, of course. And yes, Noire could use it as well. Basically, only the three of them had the authority to operate that eye.

Vert then entered Compa's information and the search initiated. With how vast Gamindustri is, it would take a little while before results would be procured. As the search progressed, she received an incoming video call from Noire. She accepted it and Noire popped out on the screen.

 _"Are you using the Goddess' Eye? What are you using it for?"_ Noire asked.

"I'm looking for a missing person as per Uni's request." Vert said. "I'm sure you already know that."

Noire's eyes narrowed a little. _"…Am I really that unreliable that she didn't ask for my help?"_

Vert burst in laughter after hearing that, annoying the Lastation CPU. "I wanted to believe that for the sake of humor, but you should already know the reason why she didn't ask for your help."

Noire was speechless. She knew the reason why, but still, it didn't sit well with her.

"Don't blame Uni. She knows how busy you are when you and Histoire are working together."

 _"I know, but it doesn't feel right hearing that from you."_

"Yeah, tell me about it." Vert said as she smiled awkwardly. "Speaking of Histoire, how is she doing?"

Noire leaned back a little before talking, _"She's still asleep. She was feeling fatigued yesterday so I just let her rest. I don't want to overwork her."_

"I see. She indeed needs a lot of rest for later." Vert said as she leaned in her chair. "By the way, did you see the news earlier?"

Noire nodded immediately as if she knew what Vert was talking about. _"Yeah, I saw it yesterday as well. There was a burned village in the outskirts of Planeptune, just near ours."_ Noire said as she crossed her arms. _"No worries though, I gave an evacuation order already to everyone near that border."_

"I see." Vert said as she sighed in relief.

After that, she received a notification from the Goddess' Eye. "Woops, it seems like I got a result. I'll be right back." She then suspended her video conversation and switched to the Goddess' Eye software.

From the satellite, an image was shown on the software, revealing a full geographic map of Gamindustri. There was a mark on the image, pointing on a certain area of the world.

"…Lastation…?"

She got a bad feeling about this. Why in good heavens was the satellite showing the location of the missing person in Lastation when the accident occurred on their way to Lowee?

"…Probably someone moved her there."

Yeah, that was a plausible reason. Either way, she zoomed in further to know which area exactly in Lastation was the person located. After a few zooms, the view landed on the outer part of Lastation, near the Planeptune border.

"…?!"

Yet again, that area was not alien to her. A few miles from the mark, inside the Planeptune territory, there was a village. The village that she saw earlier from the news.

"Ah…!"

As soon as she realized that, she immediately switched back to her conversation with Noire. "Noire?! Are you there?!"

After a few seconds, Noire appeared on the screen. _"What's wrong? Why are you panicking?"_

"You said that you issued an evacuation order to everyone near the Planeptune border, right?!"

Noire just nodded.

"The Goddess' Eye found the missing person's location, and she's near that border!"

With that said, Noire was suddenly alarmed. _"Are you sure about that?"_

"Yeah, unless the Goddess' Eye is malfunctioning." Vert said as she swung her head, implying that it wasn't the case. "I'm sending you the coordinates. Please do tell Uni about that. I can't do anything from here as it's too far, but you two are close."

 _"Alright then. Leave it to me."_

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Basilicom.

Noire just ended her conversation with Vert. She was feeling a little agitated because she just learned that there was still a person who didn't evacuate yesterday even after she gave an evacuation order.

Right after she received a copy of Vert's results, she took her phone and dialed Uni's number. Uni just went out not too long ago to do some quests right after Vert got the information she needed from her. After a few seconds, Uni picked up the call.

 _"Hello, sis? What happened?"_

"Vert found the person you were looking for. I'm sending you the data now." She then ended the call and worked back on her computer. Noire opened the package she just received to double check the contents. As she verified it, she forwarded it directly to Uni's PDA.

After a few moments, her phone rang, indicating that there was an incoming call. She found out that Uni was calling back. "You checked the contents already?"

 _"Yes. I'm going there now."_

Noire didn't like that idea as she was putting Uni in danger, but she realized that she couldn't babysit her forever. "Alright then. Be careful."

 _"Don't worry sis, I'm not alone. I'm going with The Guild agent I told you before."_

Noire was relieved to hear that. Well, she couldn't ask for a better companion for Uni other than an agent of The Guild. "Is that so? Okay then, but still be careful."

For some reason, Noire couldn't calm down.

 _"Alright, I'll see-"_

But before she could hang up, "Wait, Uni."

 _"What's wrong, sis?"_

Noire bit her lip before answering, "Watch out for Neptune. If you encounter her, or just catch a glimpse of her, I want you to retreat immediately."

There was a silence for a moment. Yes, of course. Noire had told Uni about Neptune's revival. Uni was more than shocked to hear that. A goddess revived was something she didn't expect to hear in her entire life. Furthermore, it was Neptune, the one Noire, Vert, and Blanc was indebted to.

 _"I will, sis. I'll call back later."_ Uni then ended the call.

Noire put her phone down beside the monitor and sighed. She had this weird feeling in her chest that was suffocating her a little. She couldn't calm down as if she felt like something big will go down later.

"…"

Short while after that, she heard a knock on the door. She stood up and went to check who was outside her room. As soon as she opened the door,

"Blanc…?"

Yes, it was Blanc who was at the other side of the door. The reason why she was here being definitely…

 **~o~O~o~**

As soon as Uni ended her call with her sister, she dialed another number. The number of the agent of The Guild she met a week ago, who was looking for a missing person involved in a certain accident in Leanbox on their way to Lowee.

She waited for a few seconds before someone picked up the call. _"Hello Uni, what's up?"_

"Ms. IF, Ms. Vert found the person you're looking for." Uni said. She cut to the chase already as it was already a few minutes after Vert sent the data. Their target could've moved somewhere else but hopefully, she didn't move that far. Because they didn't have access to the Goddess' Eye, they had to be fast. "Where are you right now?"

 _"I'm on the outskirts of Lastation, near the Planeptune Border. I'm on my way back to the city."_

Uni was shocked to hear that. What convenience! "Just stay there! She's near your location! I'm sending you the data right away." Uni said.

 _"Really?! Alright, I'll go to her as soon as I receive her location."_

Uni nodded at herself. "I'm at the other side of Lastation right now, but I'll go there as fast as I can." She then ended the call.

Even after all of this progress, Uni was still nervous. Things were working out too well for them.

 **~o~O~o~**

IF was walking around the place that seemed to be a forest, as it was filled with trees. Her call with Uni just ended, and she found out about the location of the person she had been searching for weeks.

"Compa… please be safe…"

After that, she received an e-mail from Uni. She immediately checked the contents, and saw a geographic map of Lastation, with a mark on a certain location.

"My Goddess, she's near!"

She then jumped on a tree branch and leaped from tree to tree. She couldn't run through the forest as the ground was not really a pleasant one to walk through and it was filled with obstacles. She could see an exit from afar as she leaped.

"Compa…!"

IF jumped down and ran through the exit. Her heart was racing as she headed towards her destination. She had missed Compa; she wanted to see her again.

As she got out of the woods, she was welcomed by a very large field, with a cliff at the far end. She could see Planeptune miles away from her position, but that wasn't her concern right now.

Several meters in front of her, there was a person sitting down on the ground, staring at the direction where Planeptune was. That person had a bandage around her arms and legs, implying that she suffered an injury.

IF's breathing went faster as she stared at the said person.

"Compa…"

She would never mistake that light-pink hair of hers for any other. She didn't know Compa for years for nothing.

After IF called her name, Compa turned to her slowly. "Iffy…?"

IF's heart raced once more. This was real! She wasn't dreaming anymore! Compa was in front of her, the real one!

"Compa…!" IF then slowly walked towards her.

At the same moment, Compa stood up from the ground and walked towards IF as well. Both of them hadn't seen each other for weeks, and of course, they would miss each other as well.

"Iffy…!"

"Compa…!"

At long last, they finally reunited with each other after all those weeks. They extended their arms, trying to reach the other.

"Com-"

IF's eyes widened as she stopped herself from walking because what she just saw was something she never, ever expected to happen right there.

"…Ah…?"

Compa slowly lowered her head and directed her attention below. After doing so, she saw a blade sticking out of her chest. The blade then was suddenly pulled out from her body from behind, and she started to fall down to the ground as she bled from her mouth and chest.

"COMPAAAAAAAA!" IF dashed to Compa as she was falling down and caught her just in the nick of time. She was confused; confused about everything. There, she just saw Compa after all these weeks of searching for her, and now that she found her, something like this happened.

"Compa…! Compa…!"

But Compa couldn't hear her. The signs of life were gradually fading from her eyes, and she herself could feel it as well. "If…fy…?"

"Compa…! It's me…!" IF's mind was jumbled. She didn't know what to do with this situation. "It's me, IF…!" She then held onto Compa's hand tightly.

Compa tried to crack a smile, but she failed. "If…fy… Long… time no… see…" She said between her short breathing. "How… are you… doing…?"

"Ah… Ah…!" IF couldn't contain her tears. She was breathing very fast, obviously, because of the fear she was feeling as she stared at Compa. She placed her hand on top of Compa's chest, in hopes to stop the bleeding, but her attempts were futile.

Actually, everything was futile.

"Compa…! Compa…! Compa…!" IF pulled Compa close to her. "No…! Compa…! Just when I finally found you…!"

One last time, Compa tried to crack a smile. "I…ff…y… don't… cry…"

At the same time, Compa's hands went limp, and her breathing stopped.

"…?!"

IF's heartbeat stopped for a moment.

"Compa…?"

No response.

"Compa…?"

Yet again, no response.

IF released Compa a little. There, she saw her closed eyes. She couldn't hear Compa's breathing anymore, and her clothes were completely drenched in blood which also got into hers.

She then turned to her front. There, she saw a woman standing a few meters away from them, with a dark purple katana on her right hand, staring at them.

IF then embraced Compa's body again. "Compa… Compa…!" She didn't want to accept this, even though she already knew what had happened.

The woman in front of her then dashed towards them, but before she could get close,

 **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

 **~o~O~o~**

Uni was nearing her destination. Even at her fastest flight speed, it still took her a few minutes before passing through the center of the city. She was nearing her destination and could see the outskirts from her position already, but before she could reach her target, the far end part of the place was suddenly engulfed in flames.

"What the-?!"

But that wasn't all. The flames continued to expand, and in no more than ten seconds, the whole forest below her was already burning.

Not only that, she also heard a very loud scream. It wasn't a scream of anything like of the monsters, but a scream of a person.

* * *

 **Alright, chapter 7 is done!**

 **Sorry again that it took so long. God, it's almost 15k words, the longest one I had in my entire time here in the site.**

 **Anyways, I think that's all for the massive exposition of the story. There will be more action in the future (I think so?)**

 **Another thing, I decided to include one maker character who will have an important role in the future chapters (snickers), but I haven't made a decision about who it would be. Well, even though I personally asked a few in facebook (friends keks), still not sure. My picks were Cyberconnect2 or MarvelousAQL, but I want to know your thoughts as well. I will not spoil it completely, but there would be an event here where *ssshhhh* is needed, if you know what I mean.**

 **One more thing, I think you guys will know what will happen next. You know me, I have a habit of putting foreshadows xD**

 **If you spot some mistakes, please do tell me. I can get blind sometimes.**

 **Alright, that's enough from me. How did you guys like the veeeery long chapter? Was it good? XD Drop your mighty reviews, I want to hear your impressions xD Just don't roast me, 'kay?**

 **Until next time, see ya guys!**


	8. Bloodshed

**Hello guys! Time for chapter 8!**

 **About CC2 and Marvy… well, I think I'm going to include them both xD So there's that.**

 **Answering your questions… well, it's regarding IF… you'll see here. :)**

 **Anyways, the story has 2-4 more chapters! Awww it's going to end as well.**

 **By the way, I hope you guys aren't getting confused with my scene transitions. When a scene switches from one to another, sometimes it is set a few minutes earlier or so, sometimes ahead of time (But I mostly do this with italicized texts, so no worries about that, I guess? Italicized text are sometimes set as flashback as well.) but I didn't bother putting that because, well, you'll see a lot of "few minutes/moments/etc later" a lot in the fic, which is, yeah, kind of annoying. I did that because I kinda had a hard time timing the events simultaneously.**

 **Another thing, I can't remember if IF can pronounce Nep's name properly, but since she mostly calls Nep Nepko, we'll go with she can't pronounce it properly.**

 **Alright then, no more chatters from me. Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Lowee – City._

 _There were two girls walking on the streets side by side together. They were getting a few attentions from the people around them, probably due to their charisma._

"…"

 _That was one reason. The other reason was, well, Lowee was known for its continuous snowy climate, and their outfits were something that a person would never wear on this weather. But yeah, the cold didn't affect them in any way, of course._

" _No luck here in Lowee, huh?"_

 _One of the girls who had a long, pale brown hair, wearing a thigh-length blue detachable sleeve coat, said as they stopped at a pedestrian crossing._

" _We've searched everywhere already. What's the plan, IF?"_

 _Yes, IF. An agent of The Guild. She was looking for a certain girl named Compa, who had been missing for weeks now. So far, she had not had a single clue about Compa's whereabouts and Uni hadn't contacted her yet either._

" _I don't know; we're back to square one." IF replied as she sighed in disappointment. It was really a huge disappointment, when you travelled the whole world to find a single person and fail to do so. "I guess I'm going back to Lastation. How about you, Falcom?"_

 _Falcom, a girl who was around the same age as IF. She had short red hair just above her shoulders, with a silver headband on top of her head, and orange eyes. She was wearing a white tank top with a belt buckle attached around it that covers only her upper body. Above it was a white and blue jacket, and under the sleeves, she was wearing arm warmers. She was also wearing a short white and blue skirt, paired with thigh-length brown stockings, and high boots of the same color. She was also carrying a black case in which the contents were only known to her._

" _Well, since we're back to square one, I guess I'll go back to Planeptune."_

 _That answer wasn't liked by IF. "Please tell me you're kidding."_

" _As much as I don't want to, I have to check up on the village first." Falcom said. She was aware of what was happening in Planeptune, and of course, she really didn't want to take a single step in there, but she had no choice. "Don't worry, I won't take long."_

" _Don't just say it. Do it." IF said as her expression turned into a serious one. "With your shitty luck, and Planeptune's former CPU coming back from out of nowhere, I'm not sure if I can trust your answer."_

" _Hey, that hurts. My luck can't be that bad." Falcom narrowed her eyes as she directed her attention to IF. "You're jinxing me too much."_

" _You can't be too careful, Falcom."_

 _Falcom sighed in defeat. She knew that IF was just worried about her well-being. Well, given the current state of Planeptune, she was still surprised to see IF worrying about her when she's got better things to worry about, like her search for Compa._

" _Whatever, just don't get into trouble."_

 _Falcom then grinned at her. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon, I promise."_

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Planeptune – Outskirts._

 _Falcom arrived at a certain village in the outskirts. It wasn't alien to her, as she had been in this place many times already. She was helping the people here by protecting them from the monsters, and other jobs that needed more hands._

 _With all of the things she did for the people here, she already considered this place her home._

 _As soon as she was seen by the villagers, they greeted her. Falcom greeted them back as a sign of respect. She was offered different kinds of gifts from the people as a gratitude for her continuous help, but she politely refused them as she didn't really deserve those. She found joy in helping people without asking anything in return, and the people knew that._

 _As Falcom learned that the status of the village was still the same, and finally got off the hook from the people, she entered the forest near the village. It was her routine to check this area for monsters whenever she had the time to visit. She scanned the area for potential threats, but so far, she didn't see anything that could be considered harmful._

 _She sighed in relief. This was the first time that there were no monsters in this place as she got back. Because whenever she returned, monsters were scattered in this place. Though they can't enter the village because of the traps laid by the villagers, it was still a good choice to sweep them out before they could breach. Prevention is better than cure, after all._

" _Alright, time to-"_

 _As she was about to turn around, she instantly froze on the spot. As if a great power was intimidating her whole being. When she finally calmed herself down and regained her ability to move, she turned around, and saw two figures a few meters away from her. She was more than surprised to see 'them', let alone approach her personally. Falcom could see that much as 'they' were staring at her._

" _Long time no see, Falcom."_

 _Falcom shivered as she heard 'her' voice. She didn't expect to see her in this place. "Neptune…"_

 _Yes, it was Neptune. The former… CPU of Planeptune, now governing the nation as well. Falcom knew Neptune way back when she was still a young adventurer. They journeyed together multiple times when Neptune wasn't fighting her fight in Celestia. It was those good old days._

 _But of course, today's a different day._

 _She couldn't believe that IF jinxed her today. Well, she couldn't do anything about it anymore since it was her decision to go here in the first place._

" _What are you doing here? There must be something wrong in this place that you and Nepgear decided to drop by here." Falcom said._

 _Yes, the other person with Neptune was none other than Nepgear, her sister. Falcom could've wished that she could just ignore these two and get out of Planeptune, but alas, she couldn't just do that._

" _We haven't seen each other for a long time, and that's how you greet an old friend?" Neptune said as she grinned slightly._

 _But Falcom wasn't happy to hear that. She had a feeling that this Neptune wasn't the one she used to know. Well, she should be happy that Neptune came back after ten years, but no, it wasn't the case. It wouldn't be when ten years ago, Neptune didn't return when the CPUs of other nations came back from Celestia and formed a treaty to stop the war. It wouldn't take an intelligent person to know that something had happened to her that time._

 _And suddenly coming back after all these years, would just lessen the sense. Falcom knew Neptune's purpose. Her purpose and why did she come back after all those years._

"…" _Falcom remained silent and just glared at Neptune._

 _Neptune's grin disappeared. "But yes, I'm not here to say hi." She said. "I want you to command my army, Falcom."_

 _Falcom's eyes widened as she heard that. While she wasn't surprised that Neptune was building an army, she surely didn't expect Neptune to recruit her._

"… _Why would you think that I'm fit for the job?" Falcom asked._

 _Neptune cracked a smile. "With your skills, your ability to think calmly when everything goes down, and your great survivability from catastrophes, nobody is going to be better than you."_

 _Even with those praises, Falcom didn't feel happy. Of course, with Neptune talking about an army, there was only one way where this conversation would go. "…What good does it do for me, or for the world?"_

 _Neptune's smile disappeared right after she heard the word 'world'. She glared sharply at Falcom, but the red-haired woman didn't flinch._

" _I'm going to unite Gamindustri, if that's what you want to know."_

" _Under Planeptune's flag?" Falcom interjected._

 _Neptune was silent. She knew that Falcom was aware of her plans, but that didn't stop her from doing it. In fact, she had seen it as an opportunity because she wouldn't need to explain the details to her anymore._

" _Yes, of course."_

 _Falcom gritted her teeth. "You're insane." She said._

" _How so?" Neptune asked._

 _Falcom gripped tighter on the case she was holding. "You're not going to unite Gamindustri. You're just going to disrupt the peace and conquer the world."_

 _Neptune blinked twice before she started to chuckle. "…Peace…?" She then laughed at Falcom, which irked her._

" _You call what you're seeing peace? You've got to be kidding me."_

 _Now, Falcom was sure that this Neptune in front of her was really insane._

" _Peace is the greatest lie of all, Falcom." Neptune said as her laughs died down. "There will never be peace for as long as there are differences."_

 _Falcom clenched her fists. "Even so, it is not you who is going to decide what's peaceful or not!"_

" _Then who will?"_

 _That question made the atmosphere around them quiet. Falcom didn't know what to answer, as that question was so heavy; it wasn't meant for her to answer._

" _What's the matter? Why the sudden silence?"_

 _Falcom just gritted her teeth. She turned her eyes to Nepgear, but she wasn't doing anything. She was just staring at her with pity. Though Falcom couldn't understand why Nepgear was doing that._

 _As Neptune learned that Falcom wouldn't be able to give an answer, she decided to ask her once more, "I'll give you one more chance, Falcom." Neptune said. "Join me."_

 _Falcom took a step back. "After all that we've discussed, you still think that I would join you?"_

 _Neptune closed her eyes for a moment. After a few seconds, her katana emerged from her right hand. "…Is that your answer, Falcom?"_

" _You're not going to make me change my mind, Neptune." Falcom then took her sword from the case she was holding._

" _Well, then. Let's see how long you'll be able to keep your word."_

 _In an instant, Neptune disappeared and reappeared in front of Falcom, and delivered a downward slash. Falcom blocked the attack as she lifted her sword with both of her hands, but the blow was so heavy that it managed to push her back._

' _So strong…!' Falcom though as her feet slid through the ground._

 _She's just a human, and Neptune's a goddess, after all._

"… _!"_

 _But that didn't end there. Falcom saw Neptune approaching her at near lightning speed. She instinctively sidestepped and avoided Neptune's attack just in the nick of time, but her right arm, her abdomen, and right leg were scraped by Neptune's blade as she passed through._

"… _Nngh…" Falcom groaned as she covered her abdomen with her left hand, trying to keep it from bleeding. She didn't even see those attacks. As if, the damage she received was done in just a millisecond._

 _It was not a good idea to fight Neptune, but whatever happened, this was inevitable._

" _You know, you won't defeat me if you keep on dodging." Neptune said as she stopped. "Come at me, I'll give you a chance."_

 _Now, that infuriated Falcom. She knew that Neptune was underestimating her. Well, if Neptune offered her a chance, she wouldn't let this pass up!_

" _I'll take you up on your offer, then!" Falcom then stomped her foot and dashed towards Neptune. As she got close to her, she delivered three quick series of slashes, in which Neptune parried all of it with her katana with only a single hand. The ground below them was crushed each time their weapons clashed._

"… _!" Falcom was surprised, but that didn't stop her. She took her weapon back and did a spinning slash, but her attack was stopped by Neptune's bare hand, which surprised her even more._

" _Are you even trying, Falcom?"_

 _With that said, Falcom jumped back a few meters away from Neptune. She couldn't believe it that her attacks were useless against her. Her breathing got heavier, while Neptune didn't even break a sweat._

" _Don't tell me you've grown weaker during these past years?"_

 _Falcom was silent. It wasn't that she had grown weaker, as she always trained herself because she's an adventurer. It was just, Neptune suddenly got too strong._

 _Or, was she just hesitating?_

" _Come on, give me your best shot." Neptune taunted._

 _After a short while, Falcom lowered her sword. There was no other way to get out of this place. She had to do this._

"…"

 _She took three steps forward and lifted her sword in front of her torso as she took a stance. Neptune took this as a cue and readied herself._

" _I'll take you down with this!"_

 _In an instant, the ground under her feet was crushed as she dashed towards Neptune and then delivered a series of slashes. Neptune parried all of them, but that didn't stop Falcom from attacking._

"… _!" Neptune's eyes widened as she realized what Falcom was trying to do._

 _Falcom then delivered a heavy upward slash, which launched Neptune up to the skies as she parried the attack. Neptune expected her to chase but no, Falcom just stood her ground as she was releasing a massive aura from her body. The rocks around her started to float and the ground shook as well._

" _HAAHH!"_

 _At the same instant, a powerful wave of energy escaped from Falcom's sword and was directed towards Neptune. An explosion erupted at the skies as it made contact._

" _Sis…!" The spectator, Nepgear, said as she saw Neptune falling from the sky, but that didn't make her perform any action as she knew that her sister wanted to do this alone. And so, she just stood her ground and didn't move._

 _As Neptune was descending, Falcom's sword glowed and extended in length. She then chased Neptune, and as she got close, she delivered an upward slash._

" _REACH!"_

 _As she successfully executed her attack, an explosion erupted once again. Falcom landed safely as Neptune crashed onto the ground. She was short on breathing, as it had been a long time since she used that attack. Add that her wounds weren't helping as well. She then fell on her knees and stabbed her sword on the ground as a support._

"…" _Falcom stared at Neptune's body from a distance. She wished that this would be finally over, but of course, nothing went her way, as she started to hear muffled laughs._

"… _Hahahahahaha…!" The laughs grew louder, which made Falcom nervous. It made her nervous as she knew whose laughing voice was that._

 _To her not-so-surprise, Neptune slowly stood up from the ground. What really surprised Falcom was Neptune didn't have a single scratch in her body, despite receiving those attacks earlier._

" _You're a monster…" Falcom said as she glared sharply at Neptune, who was already standing._

 _Neptune then walked towards her. "Is that it, Falcom?"_

 _Falcom just stayed still in her position as she watched Neptune approach her. If she were going to be honest, that attack took a lot of her strength._

 _As Neptune stopped in front of Falcom, "You've grown rusty, Falcom." Neptune said as she kneeled in front of her. She then offered her hand to her. "Take my hand and join me. I will make you stronger."_

" _I will never change my mind, Neptune." Falcom said as she gripped tighter on her sword. "Not when your cause isn't just."_

 _With that said, Neptune closed her palm as she sighed. "Is that so? Well, then. I hope you will never regret your decision."_

" _I will never-"_

 _Before Falcom could say what she wanted to, an explosion was heard from a distance. Nepgear and Falcom turned to where it occurred, and to their surprise, there were smokes coming from the direction where the village was._

" _The village…!" Falcom said as she mustered all of her remaining strength and ran back to the village. Neptune didn't even turn to the direction where Falcom headed to and just stayed where she was._

 _Nepgear turned to her sister, whose back was facing her. "Sis…?"_

" _Leave her be, Nepgear." Neptune said while not looking at her. "It's only a matter of time until she breaks."_

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Falcom hurriedly ran back to the village. She could already see large smokes coming from the direction she was heading to. As she arrived at the village, she saw the houses and stores burned down to the ground, with mortally wounded people scattered everywhere._

"… _Ah…! …Ah…!" Falcom couldn't believe what she was seeing. There, the people living in peace earlier were now corpses on the ground. The place she considered home, was now destroyed by an unknown cause._

 _She slowly traversed in the burnt village, trying to look for someone to talk to. Even though she knew that no one could've survived that explosion, she still hoped that someone did. She had to know what happened here._

"… _?!"_

 _Falcom suddenly stopped walking. She could've sworn that she heard a voice. She looked for the source, but she couldn't find anyone._

"… _-alcom…"_

 _Falcom turned around, and saw a girl who seemed to be in her teens, had her lower half body buried under a pile of burning debris. The girl was bleeding from her head and her body; the debris and ashes weren't helping at all. Falcom didn't waste a second and hurried to the girl's aid. She tried to lift the debris on her, but a couple of large ones were piled together that it didn't even budge._

" _Ms.-Fal…com…"_

" _Don't talk right now! I'm going to get you out of there!" Falcom said as she tried to push harder, but still the obstacle didn't budge an inch._

" _Don't… Ms.—Fal…com…"_

 _What the girl was trying to say caught Falcom's attention that it made her stop. "What…?"_

" _Don't… trust… Lady… Nep—tu-" The girl wasn't able to finish what she wanted to say as her life faded. Falcom's heartbeat stopped for a moment as she witnessed a life disappear in front of her._

"…"

 _She knew what the girl was trying to say. It would make sense, really. She finally understood why Neptune said 'those words' to her earlier._

"…"

 _Not long after that, Neptune and Nepgear arrived at where Falcom was. Nepgear was looking around, not sure of what happened here, but it didn't bother her that much. The same goes with Neptune, as her attention was only fixated to Falcom._

" _What a gruesome fate this place had…" Neptune said as she sighed in disappointment. "What would you do now, Falcom?"_

 _But Falcom didn't answer nor move an inch. She was just on her position, staring at the dead girl in front of her. Neptune waited for a few moments for Falcom to answer, but it looked like she wouldn't be able to spew some answers from her._

 _Neptune sighed once more. "I'll give you time. Just drop by the Basilicom if you ever change your mind." She said as she turned around. "Nepgear, let's go."_

 _Nepgear followed her sister as she started to walk away. What they didn't see was the face Falcom had. Her fury was visible in her eyes as she gritted her teeth and cried._

' _Damn you, Neptune…!' She clenched her fists as she cursed Neptune mentally. She then stood up and turned to the direction where Neptune and Nepgear was headed. She could still see them as they were walking slowly._

' _I'm going to kill you, Neptune…!'_

 _Falcom then stomped her foot and dashed forward as the ground cracked due to her release of momentum. In no more than a moment, she was already behind Neptune and Nepgear._

"… _?!"_

 _Neptune noticed Falcom's sudden arrival and managed to barely avoid her attack, but she didn't know that Falcom's target wasn't only her._

" _AAAHHH!"_

 _Nepgear cried as the right side of her waist was slashed by Falcom's sword even as she attempted to avoid her attack. Falcom did a spin slash as she got between them, which Neptune avoided, but not Nepgear as she totally didn't expect her surprise attack._

 _As Neptune saw her sister got injured, her expression completely changed into something else._

" _Tch…!" Falcom clicked her tongue as she learned that she failed to take out both of them. She slid her foot on the ground to stop herself and prepare for a counterattack, but she didn't notice that Neptune was already behind her as she turned around._

"… _!" Falcom's eyes widened as she saw Neptune's expression. She had nothing but murderous intent enveloping every nook and cranny of her being. Her katana was ready to kill, while Falcom didn't even manage to compose herself._

" _Die, Falcom."_

 _At the very same moment, Neptune stabbed her katana directly to Falcom's chest._

" _GUAH-!" Falcom coughed a few amounts of blood as Neptune's katana pierced through her chest. She instantly lost her grip on her sword and inevitably let go of it. Her blood was dripping out of her chest, down to Neptune's katana and to her body._

" _I would let that pass if it's only me, but if you involve Nepgear, you're of no use to me anymore." Neptune said and pulled her katana out of Falcom's body. Falcom then fell down to the ground. Her blood continued to flow out of her body, creating a pool of it for her to bathe._

 _Neptune then walked back to Nepgear. "Are you alright, Nepgear?" Neptune said as she inspected Nepgear's wound. It wasn't deep, but not too shallow as the blade made a fine cut on Nepgear's waist that it managed to make it bleed continuously. "Let's go back and get you treated."_

 _Nepgear nodded as she followed her sister's lead. Not long after that, Nepgear noticed that her sister's suit was tainted with red on the right waist part._

" _Sis… your waist…"_

 _Neptune stopped. She then inspected her right waist, and it was indeed tainted with red. She sliced that part of the suit and checked underneath. Neptune saw her right waist sliced, and it was bleeding as well._

" _Falcom must've got me earlier." Neptune said as she covered her wound. "Don't worry, I'm fine."_

 _Nepgear nodded, but she found it very weird._

 **~o~O~o~**

' _ **So cold…'**_

 _ **I couldn't move… But I could see Neptune walking away from me…**_

 **~o~O~o~**

 _ **This place. I remember this place.**_

" _Ah…"_

 _This forest. Yeah, this forest. I was walking in this forest. Alone? Nope, I had a companion. She was walking beside me. We're about the same height, though I think she was a little taller than me. Age? I wouldn't say that we had the same, but that's just about it._

" _Hey, are we there yet…? I'm kind of pooped already…"_

 _The girl beside me complained as she walked. Well, she was a little behind me, just to be exact._

" _Come on, Neptune. Just a little bit farther." I said to her._

 _Yes, the person with me was Neptune, the CPU of Planeptune. What about me?_

" _You said the same thing earlier, Falcom!"_

 _Yes, that's my name. Wondering why someone like me was with the CPU of Planeptune? Simple, we're friends. We do hang out from time to time. How did we meet? I kinda forgot, but surely during my adventures. I hoped that Neptune would never ask me about that because surely I'd just disappoint her._

" _I'll keep my word this time. Look, you can see it from here now." I said as I pointed forward. A few meters away, we could see light._

 _Neptune's eyes widened and then ran to our destination. Really now, she left me after I said that we were nearing our destination?_

" _Come on, Falcom, hurry up!"_

 _And she was telling me to hurry up._

" _Alright, alright." I said as I tried to catch up with her. Seriously, I couldn't understand Neptune sometimes, but I ain't complaining._

 _As we reached our destination, we ended up in a cliff. Right in front of us, we could see another nation from a distance. Between us and that nation was something we, or maybe just I, didn't know. Our nation was a floating island, and so were the other nations. I never learned the origins of the world, as history really wasn't my forte._

" _You know what, I really think that we should've gone back to the Basilicom and eat there." Neptune said._

 _After coming all the way here, really? And yeah, we were about to eat lunch as we just cleared a dungeon earlier._

" _Well, yeah. But you know, it's really nice to eat somewhere with a good view and fresh air." I said. That made Neptune pout._

 _Woops._

" _Don't get me wrong, I do like your Basilicom as well." I immediately said. "It's just… there's a right place for each thing."_

" _When did you get so philosophical?"_

 _Wait, what?_

" _Did I now?" I asked._

 _Neptune just sighed. Seriously, where did she get that idea?_

" _Nevermind, let's just eat! I'm hungry!"_

 _I took out our rations and placed them on the ground after spreading out a mat for us to sit. "Yes, yes, your highness."_

" _Hey, we already talked about you calling me that." Neptune said and pouted again. Well, we did, but seeing her pout like that, it was kinda cute, and I couldn't help it but tease her for a bit._

" _Oops, sorry." I said and just stuck my tongue out._

 **~o~O~o~**

' _ **So cold…'**_

 _ **I couldn't feel anything… But I tried to reach for Neptune…**_

 **~o~O~o~**

" _Neptune, watch out!"_

 _We were surrounded by a ton of monsters._

 _I immediately dashed towards Neptune, who was occupied by a large Opportune in mid-air. That wasn't the reason why I warned her; it was because a Dragon Knight was heading towards her and was aiming her back._

 _But I wouldn't make it!_

" _NEPTUNE!" I said and pointed my sword forward, in hopes that I would make it._

 _My vision became white and after a few seconds, it went back to normal, but what I've seen wasn't normal._

" _Huh…?"_

 _My sword was glowing. That wasn't all; the monsters around me were pushed back and they crashed onto the walls. What's more, my sword extended, all the way to the monster that was trying to attack Neptune. And what's more again, it pierced the monster's body._

" _Falcom…! You're…"_

 _I didn't quite hear what Neptune just said as I was preoccupied by the object in front of me. I had no idea what was going on, but one thing was for sure._

 _A new power. My new power._

 _With that thought in mind, I lifted my sword along the monster on it, slammed it on the floor and swept the room as I spun around. The monsters surrounding us were instantly exterminated by my blade. At the same moment, Neptune pushed the Opportune back and did three swift slashes on its body, instantaneously destroying it._

 _Neptune then landed in front of me while her HDD was still on. "That was splendid, Falcom. When did you acquire such power?"_

" _I…" I of course didn't know what to answer. It was just a spur of the moment. "I don't know… It felt like a switch just flipped inside me."_

' _I think… I read something about that phenomena somewhere…' Neptune raised an eyebrow for a bit, but then her expression softened. "Well, whatever it is, you should hold onto it proudly." She said. "You did save me back there, thank you."_

 _I could just rub the back of my head and make an awkward smile. Getting a gratitude from a CPU really was a great honor, even though we were friends._

" _It's no problem." I said. "Just… let's just not do this again, alright? We're clearly hundred levels below this dungeon, and even though you're a CPU, you also have your limits. What's more, I'm a human, and I'll die if I get killed."_

 _Neptune deactivated her HDD and just averted her eyes away from me while scratching her cheek. "Yeah, I learned my lesson, but that reference isn't going to make you cool in any way."_

 _She got me._

 **~o~O~o~**

' _ **So cold…'**_

 _ **I couldn't breathe… Yet I still tried to reach for Neptune, but failed…**_

' _ **So cold…'**_

 _ **Will this be my end…? My memories were slowly disappearing… I… I couldn't stop it… They kept on… shattering…**_

 _ **No… stop… I… to forget everything… no… anything but that…**_

' _ **Ah…'**_

 _ **It's no use. It's so cold…**_

" _ **..."**_

 _ **It's no use…**_

" _ **I'm… sorry… IF…"**_

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Two days had passed._

 _Lastation – Outskirts._

 _IF was walking around the forest. She took a quest from the guild just to kill time. If she were going to be honest with herself, she was actually waiting for Uni to call her since she hadn't heard anything from her for a while. Plus, she was a little short on money due to her constant travelling and being off-duty so she kinda needed it._

 _As she finished the quest, which was just a simple monster hunting, she sat down on a branch of a nearby tree as she jumped onto it and took out her rations. She felt a little hungry after all those hunting, so yeah, it was probably a good time to reenergize._

"…"

 _IF took out her phone and checked the news. It had been a few days since the last time she checked those. So far, nothing related to her search for Compa._

 _But then, one news caught her attention that she almost dropped whatever she was eating._

"… _This is…?!"_

 _It was a news about a burnt village in Planeptune. That village also wasn't alien to IF, as she recognized that place. It was the place where Falcom headed to when they split up._

"… _Falcom!" IF got nervous suddenly. This was what IF was talking about a few days ago. She immediately opened her contacts and looked for Falcom's number. She tried calling her number, but the operator said that the number couldn't be reached._

" _Dammit, Falcom!" IF jumped down from the tree and started to run back to the city as she attempted to dial Falcom's number again, but before she could call her, her phone rang, indicating an incoming call._

"… _Uni?" IF stopped as she was surprised to see who the caller was. Did she finally have a lead? Only one way to find out. "Hello Uni, what's up?" IF said as she answered the call._

" _ **Ms. IF, Ms. Vert found the person you're looking for."**_

 _Color IF surprised._

" _ **Where are you right now?"**_

" _I'm in the outskirts of Lastation, near the Planeptune Border." IF said as she looked around. "I'm on my way back to the city."_

 _But Uni's reply caught IF off-guard._

" _ **Just stay there! She's near your location! I'm sending you the data right away."**_

 _IF's heart raced as she heard that. She couldn't believe that she finally had lead! And it leads directly to Compa, too!_

" _Really?! Alright, I'll go to her as soon as I receive her location." IF said as she gripped on her chest. She really, really wanted to see Compa now._

" _ **I'm at the other side of Lastation right now, but I'll go there as fast as I can."**_

 _Uni ended the call after that. IF lowered her phone for a bit. She was glad that Compa was finally found, but she was still worried about Falcom's current status. While Compa was her top priority, she couldn't just ignore Falcom. She's her partner, after all._

 _But, Compa was near, and Falcom was at the other side, so her course of action was obvious._

" _Falcom, don't you dare break your promise." IF said as she clenched her fists as she walked around the forest. "Don't you dare…"_

 _All she could just do was have faith in Falcom. Not long after that, she received an e-mail from Uni. As she opened it…_

 **~o~O~o~**

"What is going on…"

Uni stopped her flight as she saw the forest suddenly got eaten by fire. It happened so quick that she didn't even have the time to prevent it. Either way, this was inevitable.

"What should I do…?" Uni was conflicted. Her next course of action was nowhere to be found as she completely froze on the spot.

For now, she inspected the burning forest, but not long after that, she noticed something a little far away from her position. She lifted her weapon and looked into her scope to check what that was, and surprise, what she saw was something she never, ever expected to see in her entire life.

Uni immediately opened her comms and contacted her sister. Not long after that, her sister picked up the call. _"Uni, what's going on?"_

"Sis, we have a big problem!" Uni immediately said. "Neptune is here!"

Yes. The one she just saw from her scope was Neptune, and she was heading her way.

" _What?! Uni, get back here in the Basilicom immediately!"_ Noire ordered. _"She's not someone you can fight!"_

"I know but…" Uni said and gulped before answering. "There's… there's so many of her!"

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Basilicom.

Noire almost dropped her phone from her hand. She was having a conversation with her sister, Uni, when she heard a very ridiculous statement from her.

"What… what are you saying?" Noire said as she tried to compose herself, but she failed. Her hands were shaking as she held on her phone. "I… I don't understand, Uni."

" _Stop being so shocked, sis! I should be the one surprised here!"_ Uni said through the phone. _"It's just as I said. There's an army of Neptune heading our way, and I'm going to intercept them, whether you like it or not!"_

After saying that, Noire finally realized what Uni was trying to do. She wanted to protect Lastation. Of course, both of them do. Even with the great danger ahead, Uni didn't let that get ahead of her.

As soon as Noire composed herself back, "Alright, Uni. Can you hold for at least thirty… no, twenty minutes?"

" _Try fifty."_

Noire smiled with that response. "Alright. I'll be back in a flash. Be careful out there." Noire said and ended the call. She was really against Uni going against Neptune, but she couldn't ask for a better person to keep Lastation guarded for the time being. At the very most, she could trust Uni's abilities.

She then dialed another number as she stood up from her seat and headed to her terminal room. As soon as the call was picked up,

" _What's up, Noire?"_

"Let's get started, Blanc. Neptune is going to attack Lastation and Uni will try to keep her army at bay." Noire said as she walked through the corridors. "I'll fill you in with the details later, we're running out of time."

" _Okay, then. Histoire and I just got back and we're heading to our terminal now."_ Blanc replied. _"I'll give Vert a holler so we can start."_

 **~o~O~o~**

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

In an instant, the cliff was suddenly engulfed in flames. The woman clad in dark purple suit wielding a katana backed away instinctively to avoid getting burned.

"…"

In the middle of the flames, where the ground was slightly unharmed, a girl in her late twenties was holding another girl in her arms. The girl she was holding was completely devoid of life, as her chest was pierced.

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

The girl who screamed again was named IF. She was screaming as when she finally found the person she had been looking for weeks, a tragedy happened. That is, if murder can be considered tragedy.

Compa, the name of the murdered person right in front of her eyes.

As she screamed, the flames around her intensified and expanded, burning the whole forest behind her in no more than ten seconds. Not only that, her appearance completely changed. Her long brown hair became beige white with light red hues, along with her green leafy bow attached to her hair turning black and red. Her boots and blue coat became flaming red, with flame patterns on the coat's sleeves and on her stockings. Her eyes became red as well, with her anger painted all over it.

The woman clad in purple landed on the ground as she killed the flames around the cliff by swinging her katana. She didn't have any expression on her face other than a vague one.

"…"

IF laid Compa down on the ground and slowly stood up. The woman in purple readied her weapon.

"…"

In a heartbeat, IF disappeared from her sights. And at the same instant, the woman in purple was pinned down to the ground.

"…!"

She wasn't just pinned down to the ground. IF pinned her down using both of her katars as she reappeared in front of her. The said weapons were stabbed on the woman's chest, piercing it all the way to her back. Even with that happened to her, the woman in purple didn't release a scream.

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"**

IF roared as she pulled her katars out of the woman's chest and then sliced her neck, splitting the head off from the body. It whirled in mid-air and ultimately fell off the cliff.

"…"

IF raised her head as she stared at the skies. Her tears were falling from her eyes. She could feel nothing but despair and pain in her chest. Losing the person dear to her was the worst thing that had happened to her.

"…Compa…!"

She couldn't stop it. Her cries continued, but she didn't bother wiping it away. She let both of her eyes and heart cry out. It was painful to bottle it up, after all.

"…!"

But her cries didn't last as it was immediately replaced with anger as she saw the person she just killed up in the skies. She looked down below her; the body of the woman she just beheaded was still under her. She then looked up to the skies again; there were multiple copies of her now; an army of her, to be exact, seemingly heading towards Lastation.

IF gritted her teeth as she stood up. Her anger increased as she stared at the skies. It seemed like, her revenge wouldn't end just yet.

She didn't bother questioning what the hell was going on. All she had in mind was to destroy that person who killed Compa. As long as she could see that face, IF wouldn't stop at nothing.

"…No matter how many of you are out there, I WILL DESTROY YOU, NEPTU-!" IF said as she bit her tongue and then jumped to the skies.

Yes, the person IF hated was Neptune, the CPU of Planeptune. She was the one who killed Compa, and the one IF killed earlier as well. Though she knew that the Neptune she just killed was definitely a fake, since CPUs wouldn't go down that easily, it still was Neptune.

The ground cracked as she made her jump and she reached an altitude of several hundred feet.

"DIE!"

IF caught one of the flying Neptunes in the sky by stabbing her katars onto her target's chest. She then rolled forward and threw the body down to the ground with great force, creating a big dust screen as the body crashed. Her surprise attack was noticed by the other Neptunes and they started to target her as well.

"Come at me, you scums!"

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Basilicom.

Noire was in her terminal room, waiting for a call from Histoire. It had been more than ten minutes since her conversation with Blanc that she was going to call Vert, but so far, no answers yet. She's got a bad feeling about the situation they were in. If she were to assume the worst case scenario, _that_ would only be the thing she could expect to happen. She already issued an evacuation order to the citizens with the help of her soldiers, and she could just hope that there would be no casualties after.

"Come on, Vert, dammit!" Noire was stomping her foot on the floor. "We don't have the whole goddess damn day here!"

After a few moments, an incoming call from her terminal arrived. She immediately patched it through the screen and saw Blanc and Histoire.

" _Noire, what the hell is going on?! Vert is under attack by Neptune as well! And there's too many of her!"_

Bingo. Noire's hunch was right.

"I knew it!" Noire said as she stomped her foot once more. "I should've expected this!"

" _What is?!"_

Noire just clenched her fists. "If you're going to make a clone of yourself, would you stop at one only?"

Blanc's eyes widened after that realization. _"Shit, we're screwed, if you're going to ask me."_

Noire messed up. She really, really messed up. Why didn't she think of that? It was her nature to imagine the worst-case scenarios, yet this simple one never occurred to her. They should've done this sooner.

"Then all we have to do is unscrew ourselves. Simple as that." Noire said as her patience ran out. "But that's not going to happen unless we know where the hell Vert is now."

Blanc and Histoire just stared at each other. Not long after that, another incoming call arrived. It was from Vert. Noire immediately accepted the call, and Vert popped out on the screen as well.

"Vert! Are you alright there?" Noire asked.

" _I apologize, I rushed into the front lines as soon as I received a report that an invader is heading this way, which surprised me, a lot of Neptunes."_ Vert said. Though looking at her, she didn't seem to be harmed in any way. _"Let's get started. I've got help from two people to defend the front lines along with my state defense system, but I don't know how long they would hold out, so I need to get back there fast."_

Histoire then flew close the Blanc's camera. _"Don't worry, Vert. Once we activate the system, I will take care of the rest to complete the encapsulation, so you can go all out after this."_

" _Thank you, Histoire. I appreciate it."_ Vert said as she sighed in relief.

"How about you, Blanc? Aren't you the same?" Noire asked.

Blanc swung her head. _"Neptune hasn't reached Lowee yet, but I'm not going to say that she won't attack here, so we better get started."_

Everyone nodded in response.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – Basilicom.

Blanc and Histoire was inside the terminal room. A very large screen was lit on in front of them, and it showed Noire's and Vert's images. It wasn't just a normal image, as it was moving. In a nutshell, they were having a video conference.

Histoire flew away from Blanc and landed her tome on a circular platform not too far away from the terminal. It wasn't just a normal platform, as a crystal that resembled a power button was floating above it, which was also above Histoire.

"I'm ready, Blanc." Histoire said.

Blanc nodded and then turned to Noire and Blanc on the screen. "You two ready?" Blanc asked.

Noire and Vert nodded and they pulled out a key from their pockets and showed it on the screen, as well as Blanc. After that, they turned to their respective terminals and inserted the key into a keyhole.

"On my go." Blanc said. "Three, two, one…"

At the same moment, all three of them together,

"Goddess' Solaris, activate!"

They then turned the key. At the same instant, a button appeared beside the said keyhole, in which they pushed immediately simultaneously.

"Alright, I'll take it from here." Histoire said as her body glowed and several virtual windows appeared around her. "Go out and defend your respective nations."

" _Thank you very much, Histoire. I'm going to sign off now."_ Vert said and she disappeared from the screen.

" _Best of luck to you, Histoire."_ Noire said and she signed off as well.

Now, Blanc and Histoire was left in the room. Blanc didn't know what to say to Histoire; neither did Histoire to Blanc.

But even so,

"Histoire." Blanc called without looking at her. "I'm sorry that we dragged you into this mess."

"Don't be. It is my decision to go against Planeptune for now, so you have nothing to feel sorry for." Histoire said as she swung her head. "Now go. Lowee needs you."

Blanc didn't reply a word and immediately headed out of the room.

 **~o~O~o~**

"Hit!"

Uni was sniping the approaching Neptunes from afar, but she couldn't hit them at all. Well, Uni of course expected it. They didn't look like the real Neptune for nothing.

But, if this kept up, in just a few moments, they would reach the city.

"Now that it has come to this…!"

Uni released her scope and started to charge her weapon. As soon as it finished charging,

"Try to dodge this!" Uni said and pulled the trigger. "EX Multi-Blaster!"

A very large wave of energy escaped Uni's weapon and headed straight to the flock of Neptunes approaching. They managed to split up, but not all of them evaded the blast and were vaporized instantly.

"I'm not done yet!"

Uni just held on the trigger and swung her weapon left and right. The Neptunes who split up with the group then got hit and disappeared.

"Haah…"

Uni took a deep breath. She needed a very stable stance for that attack, and moving her weapon while it was firing, of course, the recoil wouldn't be avoided.

"…Heh, I guess I need to train a bit more." She said. "Now, then, is it-"

Not too far from her position, she could see another batch of Neptunes arriving. She was surprised as she saw that, but it wasn't the reason why she looked so agitated.

Uni lifted her weapon up to get a closer look. Her eye on the scope widened as she saw what was going on.

"…Is that… Ms. IF…?!"

From afar, she could see IF. That wasn't all; Uni could see her killing the Neptunes headed towards the city one by one while in mid-air. She knew that IF couldn't fly, but in her eyes, it looked like she could. Another thing, IF looked so different from where Uni could see her.

She took away her scope and attempted to go to IF's position, but she stopped as she heard a voice call her out.

"Uni!"

Uni turned to the source of the voice. "Sis...?!"

There, Uni's sister, Noire, in her HDD form, she was known as Black Heart. The CPU of the nation she was defending, Lastation.

"I'm glad to see you are safe." Noire said as she sighed in relief and smiled. "I know I've been pushing you too much lately, but I have a favor to ask of you."

Uni raised an eyebrow.

"Please go to Lowee and assist Blanc. She won't be able to defend against this many Neptunes alone." Uni could see a lot of Neptunes heading their way, so it gave her a thought that they made past through IF already. Well, she expected it, since IF was just a human. She wouldn't be able to handle them all.

Uni was about to protest, but this wasn't the right time for it. If she managed to hold out for this long, of course, her sister would be able to hold out longer than she did.

"Alright sis, but how can I go back once the defense system is up and working?" Uni asked.

"You don't have to worry about that." Noire said and just gave her a reassuring smile. "Now go, before Neptune's army makes it to Lowee."

Uni could just nod and flew to Lowee. Even though Noire said that, she had a feeling that Neptune's army already made it to Lowee by this time.

"Now then, let's get this over with." Noire turned around and lifted her arms. At the same instant, multiple giant tornado swords appeared above the Basilicom. One by one, they fell down to the ground, surrounding the said structure and covering it completely. The purpose was to protect the terminal if ever one or two Neptunes would pass through her.

But of course, Noire had no intentions of letting any of them pass through.

"This should do." Noire said as she sighed. She then back flipped, evading an incoming attack. That attack came from a Neptune clone, who attempted to stab her from the back. "Not so unpredictable now, aren't we?" She then summoned a tornado sword and threw it to the Neptune who just passed through her. The sword hit the clone's back and crashed onto the ground, with the body stuck on the ground by the weapon.

Noire then intercepted the approaching Neptunes and slashed them one by one. Some of them managed to block her attacks, some got decapitated instantly. The bodies were falling down to the ground one by one.

"…"

Noire was noticing that the numbers weren't decreasing at all. Every time she killed one, another two pops out from nowhere.

"Neptune is probably nearby." Noire mumbled to herself as she tried to look around while intercepting multiple opponents, but she couldn't find the real one.

Either way, she had to deal with what she had on her hands first.

 **~o~O~o~**

Leanbox – City.

Vert, currently in her HDD form, just flew out of her Basilicom and was welcomed by multiple Neptunes approaching miles away from her position.

"I guess she's aware of our plans, huh?"

Vert wondered how Neptune managed to get a hold of this information, since they worked in secret, and there wasn't a single news about their operations. But somehow, Vert was still uncertain, since if Neptune knew their plans, she should've attacked them when they were still developing it.

She swung her head and cleared her thoughts. She had better things to worry about. "Let's get this over with quickly." She then turned around and faced her Basilicom. Afterward, she lifted her right arm, and multiple giant spears emerged from the green circles that looked like a seal behind her. Those spears were fired upwards, and they landed one by one to the ground, near the Basilicom. The spears enclosed the said structure, with no entrance nor exit visible.

"I guess that will do for now." Vert then turned back to the approaching Neptunes, who already made their way to the city. "Now then, it's time for counterattack." Vert then turned into a flash of green light as she sliced her way through the battalion of Neptunes. She made sure that she hit a vital point of each of their bodies, which was, the easiest target, the neck part.

"…Am I going through this again?" Vert said as she wiped a bloodstain on her cheek. Well, she still remembered the first time she massacred a fake Neptune. She gotta admit, it was unbelievable that she was able to do something like that herself.

She scanned her surroundings. Vert could see another batch of fake Neptunes approaching. She wondered what happened to the two people who were helping her as she couldn't see them anymore, but a few moments later, she could see the next batch of invaders getting reduced. One by one, they were falling down to the ground.

"…I should've known better." Vert said and smiled.

Vert then charged towards the intruders to finish the job.

 **~o~O~o~**

"Gefahrlichtern!"

Multiple thin beams were scattered around the Lowee airspace. Those beams were targeting the intruders, who were the striking image of the Planeptune CPU. The beams were moving in near speed of sound, and so the intruders had less time to avoid it. Even though the enemies were getting reduced, more of them were replacing the killed ones.

"There's no Goddess damn end to this…!"

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, "Ms. Blanc…!"

The person named Blanc turned to the source of the voice, which was coming from above her. "Uni?! What are you doing here?"

"Sis told me to come here and assist you, as she knew that you would have a hard time defending alone." Uni said as she charged her weapon and aimed it to the approaching enemies. "So here I am!" She then pulled the trigger and wiped out multiple enemies from afar.

Blanc clicked her tongue. She hated it when Noire really was spot on about things, but she couldn't complain right now. She really needed help.

"Thanks a lot. I gotta admit, it's hard for me to do this alone." Blanc said as she summoned more Gefahrlichtern to fend off the intruders. "I'm not like Noire nor Vert, who can just summon something like gate-of-what-you-want-to-call-that."

Uni didn't say anything and just smiled as she assisted Blanc.

 **~o~O~o~**

While the CPUs were defending their respective nations, of course, casualties in the cities couldn't be avoided. The citizens were indeed evacuated, but the structural casualties were visible everywhere.

Especially in Lastation, as the invasion came as a surprise. Even though Noire was able to push back the battlefield outside the city, she was getting pushed back as well as the fake Neptunes kept on coming back, as if she killed one, it gets replaced by two more.

While doing so, Noire noticed some flashes far away from her position. She couldn't outright conclude what was going there, but she knew of one thing. That flash was eliminating the Neptunes coming from that way. Noire was about to go there but then she noticed another flock of fake Neptunes from the other direction.

"I guess this isn't the time to be worrying about others…!" She said and intercepted the incoming enemies.

 **~o~O~o~**

"HAAAAHH!"

IF could be seen jumping from one Neptune to another as she killed them. It looked like she was able to float in mid-air, but no, she wasn't. She was using some kind of ability that allowed her to step in mid-air, as if a platform was created under her feet.

"Come at me, you little shits!" IF said as she threw her katar on one Neptune, which was followed by a chain behind it. "I'll kill every last one of you! EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!" As her katar hit her target, IF was pulled into it, and as she got close, she reclaimed her blade and kicked the body downward.

She saw an incoming Neptune in front of her, but she just flipped her body backwards and evaded the attempted attack.

"I'll kill you. I'll kill you!"

IF threw her katars downward, which was attached on a lengthy chain. As it created a few feet length, she rolled her body backward and lifted the blades, which sliced the fake Neptune into two who just attempted to attack her earlier.

" **Kill! Kill! Kill!"**

IF spun around with the chained katars. All Neptunes who were trying to get close to her were getting sliced before they could close the gap. As IF learned that she was losing altitude, she created a flame platform under her feet and propelled herself upward, gaining several feet of height.

It was already raining blood in her position, but she couldn't care less. All she had in mind was revenge, and as long as she could see the face of Compa's killer, her bloodthirst would never burn out.

At the moment, IF was just swinging her chained katars, killing the fake Neptunes from a distance. Even though the blades were tainted by blood and were slicing through the bones, it never showed any signs of dulling. Paired with her skills in combat, she was almost invincible.

Yeah, almost.

Short while after that, IF felt an incredible murderous intent from afar, but as soon as she turned around, she was met by the same person she was killing recently. Yet, she knew that this one was different compared to the others.

Her eyes were filled with dread.

"Critical Edge."

"…!"

IF managed to pull her katars back and blocked the attack before it could slice her neck, but because it was a quick-time action, she wasn't prepared for that attack and got blown down back to the ground.

Before IF's back could crash onto the ground, she flipped her body backward and landed on her feet. She slid down a few meters after landing due to uncontrollable force exerted to her body.

"…!"

Her opponent was already in front of her as she lifted her head up, ready to decapitate her. IF instinctively raised both of her arms and prevent the sword from reaching her head, which resulted the ground under her feet crushing.

"…You're… the real one… huh?" IF said.

The real Neptune. The CPU of Planeptune, was now the one in front of IF. The fakes ignored them and just headed to the city.

Neptune just smirked. "I was wondering who were killing my subordinates, and surprise me, it's a human." She said as she pulled her sword back and then delivered another downward slash, but IF managed to block it. The ground under them was further crushed, creating a small crater.

"Well… that's an honor to surprise a CPU!" IF pushed the sword and spun around. She then delivered an upward slash, but her attack was avoided as Neptune suddenly disappeared from her sight and reappearing a few meters away from her.

'So fast…!' IF thought. But that didn't let her affect her. IF dashed towards Neptune and attempted to slice Neptune's neck, but as soon as she got close, Neptune disappeared again from her sight.

"Your tricks won't work on me!"

IF then threw her Katar behind her, which was followed by the chains attached on it. She heard a ***clang*** sound after a moment, indicating that her attack connected.

"Oh? That was perceptive of you." Neptune said as she blocked the attack right after reappearing. But short while after that, she saw another blade heading towards her way from the side. Neptune jumped back and avoided the attack, which sliced the burning trees around them.

"You're not getting away!"

IF dashed to Neptune at near lightning speed and delivered a downward slash as she got her katars back. Neptune managed to block the attack, locking weapons with her.

"You… are you even human…?" Neptune asked as she kept her weapon locked with IF. "I've never seen a human move like that."

But IF didn't look like she gives a care at all about that question. "What makes you think that I give a shit?" She then flipped her body upward as she locked weapons with Neptune and delivered a kick to the CPU's back, in which it connected.

"AGH-!" Neptune was blown away from the kick, but she managed to keep her balance. As she turned around, IF was already in front of her, ready to deliver another attack.

"…"

Neptune blocked the attack by lifting her sword up horizontally. The ground under her then was crushed by the shockwave of their clashing weapons.

"I see…"

IF somehow caught what Neptune just said, but nevertheless, she didn't stop at trying to slice her in half.

"You're not human… no, that's not the right word for it…" Neptune said as she raised her head and smirked at IF. "You have transcended humanity."

IF's eyes widened, and she jumped away from Neptune.

"You… you're an Awakened Being." Neptune said. "I only read it as a legend, but to think that the legends were true…"

IF sweat dropped. "What makes you say that?"

Neptune stabbed her sword on the ground. "Your flaming eyes." She said.

"Heh, you're quite fond of clichés, aren't you?"

The CPU chuckled. "Oh, spare me the jokes." She said. "Not just that. Your inhuman movements, and the flames everywhere, it gave away everything."

"Above all, no human was able to keep up with me before." Neptune said. "Except for one."

IF didn't know what to reply to that. True, that day when she acquired this power, she knew to herself that she had lost something, but she didn't know what it was that time. Now that Neptune mentioned it to her, it all made sense.

"Hmmm… thinking back that day… the same thing happened to Falcom…" Neptune mumbled to herself, but IF clearly heard what she said, and was surprised as she heard the uttered name. "But she didn't change forms… so I guess not completely…"

"…You… you knew Falcom?!" IF asked.

Now that surprised Neptune as well. "Oh, you knew her as well? What a small world Gamindustri is." Neptune said. "Well, we go way back." She then chuckled a little.

"Oh yeah, why don't you join me? You really would be a great help to me." Neptune then offered her hand to IF. "Falcom didn't join me, so it would be great if you will take her place."

"Save your bullshit to yourself." IF said as she made an offensive stance. "Where is Falcom…?" It somewhat scared her that Neptune was acquainted with Falcom. Well, because of very obvious reasons.

As IF asked that question, Neptune clenched her fist and her expression became a serious one. "Are you sure you want to know?"

After a short while, Neptune raised her sword as IF suddenly appeared in front of her and attempted to attack her. Their weapons sparked as they clashed, with the ground under them shaking due to the impact.

"Where is she?!" IF asked once more as she tried to push her katars further. Seemed like she really, really wanted to know what happened to Falcom.

Neptune narrowed her eyes.

"She's dead." Neptune said nonchalantly.

As IF heard that, her arms lost strength and she fell down onto the ground, ultimately on her knees.

"What… no… you… you're l-lying…" IF couldn't believe it. She tried not to, but knowing what happened to the village Falcom visited, and the CPU of Planeptune saying it, she had no other rebuttals. "You're lying!"

But of course, Neptune didn't lie. "She tried to kill me and Nepgear, so I killed her."

Silence.

IF lowered her head. Neptune didn't expect that reaction. She had expected IF to directly attack her when she said that she killed Falcom, but no, IF didn't move an inch.

"What are you going to do, now that you know what happened to her?"

Silence.

Neptune sighed. "Well, since you don't want to join me, you might as well join Falcom." Neptune said as she raised her sword up. "It's a waste to kill someone like you." She then brought down her sword, attempted to slice IF in two.

"…?!"

Before Neptune's sword could slice IF in two, she suddenly disappeared.

"…!"

Neptune instinctively brought her sword behind her. At the same instant, IF appeared behind Neptune and tried to slice her back, but her weapon clashed with Neptune's sword.

'…So fast…!' Neptune thought.

"I guess it's time for me to take this seriously!" Neptune declared as she turned around and did a counterattack by slashing IF while her sword was locked with IF's katars. IF managed to avoid Neptune's attack as she jumped back a few meters away from her, but then she attempted another attack by dashing back to Neptune in just a millisecond.

Neptune raised her sword once more and blocked IF's attack. The ground shook a little as their weapons clashed, with sparks flying everywhere each time the blades move.

"I'm going to fucking kill you, NEPTU-!" IF bit her tongue. She then flipped her body forward and landed behind Neptune, attempted to stab the CPU's back.

Neptune quickly turned around and did an uppercut slash to counter IF's attack. "I'd like to you see you try." She then delivered consecutive slashes, but IF parried every attack thrown at her.

"I hope you'll be able to keep up with me."

At that same instant, IF's eyes widened as Neptune stepped back a little, suddenly splitting into two and attacked from both sides. IF managed to block both attacks by parrying each sword by each of her katars, but of course, she was left open in the front.

"You may have transcended humanity, but you're still hundreds of level below me." Both Neptunes then spun around and kicked IF's gut, which blew her a few meters away and ultimately crashing on a tree.

"—AGH-!" IF coughed a few amount of blood as her back crashed onto the tree at the other side of the field. Add that kick she received earlier, it looked like her stomach was damaged pretty badly. IF tried to stand back up, but as soon as she did so, Neptune was already in front of her.

"What are you relaxing for?" Neptune then brought her sword down to IF's head, but it was blocked as IF raised both of her katars. "Not bad, little one."

IF clicked her tongue as she was struggling. If she would stay still there, the later result wouldn't be a good one, as her strength was slowly disappearing from her body. Neptune's sword was nearing her head, and she wouldn't be able to keep this up.

"Demonic Inferno!"

In an instant, a wave of flames surrounded IF, which triggered Neptune to back away, but she still got caught by the flames. At the same time, IF jumped away to the skies and created a series flame platforms under her feet to step on as she made her tactical retreat.

'She's too strong…! I need a plan…' If thought as she held on her stomach while jumping in mid-air from platform to platform. If she was going to be honest with herself, that kick earlier almost destroyed her entire stomach.

She turned back below to check if Neptune was following her, but she was nowhere to be found.

Though when she turned her attention back to the front…

"Wha-?!"

Neptune was already in front of her.

"Planning to escape? Well, here's a tip from me." Neptune said as she readied her sword. "You can't." She then delivered a downward slash, which was blocked by IF.

"Kkh-!" IF grunted as she felt pain from her abdomen when she blocked the attack. It caught her off-guard when Neptune suddenly appeared in front of her. It was as if Neptune could warp easily. And, if it wasn't for the flame platform under her feet, she would be sent back down to the ground this instant.

What was more, Neptune didn't have any signs of injury, despite getting caught by the flames.

"Why are you even trying to fight me by yourself?" Neptune asked as she kept her sword locked with IF's katars. "You do know well that the difference between us is immeasurable."

IF gritted her teeth. Yes, she did know that she had no chance against a CPU. But still, it didn't sit well with her that she'd just let Compa's and Falcom's death pass without doing anything.

"Because… Because…!" IF's eyes were burning with rage as she tried to repel Neptune. "You killed… my two friends…!"

Neptune raised an eyebrow. "…Two…?" She only knew one, and that was Falcom.

"…"

Neptune closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them again and stared back at IF. "I see. So that's why…"

"What the hell are you talking about now?!" IF said as she tried to push Neptune away, but she couldn't, as Neptune pushed her sword further near IF's neck.

"That pink-haired girl who was killed by my subordinates was one of your 'friends'." Neptune said. "Now I know why you don't want to join me." She then cracked a smirk.

IF could just grit her teeth. She really, really wanted to kill this CPU right in front of her at this instant, but yeah, she couldn't, as she didn't have the strength to do so.

"Well, then. Since you're of no use to me anymore, you can die now."

IF suddenly felt cold. She was in danger! That was what her guts were telling her. But, whatever attack that will come to her, she wouldn't be able to dodge it. Partly because that if she moved her arms even just a little, her head will be cut off from her body as Neptune's sword was just inch away from her neck.

"…!"

Instead of pushing Neptune away, she tried to gain momentum from Neptune's sword as she pushed her whole body backward and stepped off from the flame platform, but before she could get away…

"…Huh…?"

IF saw a sword drop down in front of her. Not just that, it hit something.

Her left arm, that is. Her left arm was sliced off by the sword. Blood instantly gushed out of IF's arm as it was cut.

"AAAAAAGGGGG—KKKKHHHH-!" Before she could wail any further, Neptune grabbed IF by the neck with her left hand and gripped on it tightly, almost crushing her neck. IF struggled to free herself using her right hand, but to no avail.

"I was trying to give you a painless death, but I guess you didn't want that." Neptune said as she sighed in disappointment. "Well, if this is what you want, then so be it." She spun around and threw IF's body directly down to the ground.

IF crashed down onto the ground in mere seconds and created a crater under her. She didn't even manage to let out a scream as she made her crash due to her throat being almost crushed by Neptune's hand.

"…"

She couldn't move anymore. Her body was severely damaged beyond all repairs. Add that she already lost a lot of blood from her sliced left arm, her consciousness was slowly slipping away from her.

"…"

Signs of life was gradually disappearing from her eyes. Her vision was turning gray, with a little bit of red tint as she was bleeding from her head as well and it ran down on her eyes.

' _Am I…'_

She knew her fate. The moment she decided to fight Planeptune's CPU, there was only two possible outcomes for her. Either she wins and live, or loses and die. Because she knew how ruthless Planeptune's CPU was, and how strong she was.

' _Ah…'_

IF stared at the skies. She wished for a miracle to happen, but no, a miracle isn't free. The world doesn't work that way.

"…!"

As IF unwillingly turned her head to the side, she saw Compa's dead body, which then ignited a small flame inside her.

"C…Com…pa…-"

IF gathered up everything she had; every last bit of strength and energy she had and crawled to Compa. She was leaving a trail of blood as she made her crawl, but since she was almost devoid of strength, it was taking her a bit too long just to move a few distance.

At the same time, Neptune descended to the ground near IF. She stared at IF's pitiful state and just sighed in disappointment.

"Really… what a complete waste…"

Neptune slowly walked towards IF, who was crawling on the ground. She couldn't stand seeing this play in front of her; it was sickening her. Neptune stopped as she got close to IF, who was trying to reach for Compa.

"…" Neptune bit her lip and then raised her sword up. "…May you rest in peace."

Neptune plunged her sword downward and stabbed IF's back, directly to her chest.

Before IF could reach Compa, her heart stopped beating and her hand went limp.

* * *

 **Alright, that's the end of this chapter.**

 **Sorry that it took so long. Well, what I did was a risky one, writing this chappie when my board exam was nearing. But good thing I passed it, and I'm a licensed Engineer now :) Anyways, I need to find work also, so yeah, there's that.**

 **So, if anyone noticed the "Awakened Being" stuff, it was just IF's Flame Awakening mode from Superdimension Neptune vs Sega Hard Girls. I just made an exaggeration, hehe.**

 **Well, I also said that I'll be writing lengthy chapters, so at the very least every chappie from now on will reach more than 10k words.**

 **So, what do you think guys? Leave your impressions/comments/violent reactions in your whopping reviews :)**

 **As usual, if you have any questions, or spotted anything in the fic, don't hesitate to tell me!**

 **Until next time, see you guys!**


	9. Struggle and Success

**Hello guys! Time for Chapter 9!**

 **Well, we've reached too far now, haven't we? And we're nearing the epilogue!**

 **Anyways, answering your questions!**

 **To fe4lone: Well, I pmed you the answer already, but might as well do it in here as well in case some other didn't know. Well, looking that way, Neptune is indeed OP, but she has a weakness. It's an Easter egg; well, you know me, I have a habit of putting hints throughout the chaps, so up to you to find it :) About Nepgear, she'll make an appearance later. As for Kurome, well, secret :) Your last question… hmm, well you can say that, but hmmm?**

 **Alright, I want to thank the people who are still following and supporting this story! You guys are the best!**

 **After this fic, I'm going to make a fluff fic. Yeah, you heard me. I need to be happy too sometimes, of course! Unless you give me guys a reason to write another fic like this, I don't mind xD**

 **Onto the chapter now, enjoy!**

* * *

"There's no fucking end to this!"

In Lowee airspace, there was a CPU and a CPU candidate fighting off the invaders, which were the striking image of the CPU of Planeptune, Neptune. They had been retaliating for a while now, and it seemed like they didn't make any progress at all. Instead, they were struggling.

"Ms. Blanc, at your right!" Uni shouted through her comms. She was preoccupied with the enemies coming from the left, but she was sniping from a far distance, giving support to Blanc, so she had a very wide view of the battlefield.

At the same time, Blanc swung her axe to her right side and hit the incoming enemy, which managed to block her attack, but her swing was too strong as the blade that her enemy used to block the attack was destroyed. The attacker was instantly decapitated and fell down to the ground.

"Thanks Uni." Blanc said. Even though their teamwork was working quite well, of course, their fatigue couldn't be ignored. "But seriously, we can't keep this up for long."

Uni didn't say anything as a reply. She knew that Blanc was right. If this kept up, they would be dead. And no, they couldn't wipe them out completely as whenever they kill one, another two would pop up.

"Damn it, what's Histoire taking too long?!" Blanc angrily said as she spun around with her axe, sweeping off the enemies as she moved. As her spinning came to an end, she received an incoming call.

"Histoire…?" Blanc said as she saw learned who the caller was. It wasn't just a simple call; it seemed like it was a conference, as Vert, Noire, and Uni was included as well. "What's going on, Histoire?!"

" _All terminals are synchronized now. I will need three hours to complete the simultaneous encapsulation of the three nations."_ Histoire said.

Before Blanc could retort, Noire answered, _"Not good. We'll be corpses by thirty minutes."_

" _I agree with Noire. We can't keep this up for long."_ Vert's voice was heard. _"Can't you do it in three minutes?"_

" _I can, but I will need to consume your shares, and it will greatly affect your performance for that same time as well." Histoire said._

At least they had a solution, but if it would affect their performance, it wasn't good.

"Goddess damnit, there isn't any other way, is there?" Blanc said as she spun around again, slicing her enemies.

" _Unfortunately, you are correct, Blanc."_ Histoire said.

Blanc gritted her teeth as she delivered a downward slash, which sliced one enemy into two. Her breathing was getting heavier by the second and of course, she knew she wouldn't last three hours if this kept up.

" _We've got no choice. At the very least, we can bet our lives on it."_ Vert said. _"I can bear with a few damage."_

Seemed like they indeed had no choice.

"Alright. It's better than keeping this for three hours." Blanc said as she sighed. "How about you, Noire, Uni?"

" _We're fine with it, right Uni?"_ Noire said.

" _Yes, I can deal with it."_ Uni replied.

As they made a consensus, Histoire spoke, _"Okay. I'll be speeding up the process. Hold out for three minutes."_ Histoire said as she ended the call.

Blanc retreated for a bit to prepare herself. After a few seconds…

"—NNGGGGHHH-!" Blanc suddenly felt her body getting heavier, almost like she was being pulled down to the ground. She was losing grip on her axe, but she couldn't just do that yet.

"N-Nobody… told m-me… t-that… it would b-be… l-like this…!" With all her might, she raised her axe and did a heavy swing. The attackers who tried to attack her was sliced in half.

Blanc could see that barrier from afar starting to emerge. With that kind of barrier that they designed, and with that speed, it would indeed take them three minutes.

As she was lost in her thoughts, and her divided attention due to her losing shares, a Neptune suddenly appeared behind her and attempted to attack her, but she managed to block it as she quickly turned around and raised her axe.

"Y-You… can't… d-defeat me…!" Blanc used her whole body to push the Neptune away and decapitated her, but because she could feel that her body was gradually getting paralyzed, she didn't manage to escape from the two incoming Neptunes from behind.

"Ngh…!" Blanc tried to block the incoming attack by placing her axe behind her, in which she did, but since she was losing strength, she was blown away to a nearby building.

Uni, who was flinching all over the place as she was firing her rifle at the Neptunes, witnessed what happened to Blanc. "M-Ms. B-Blanc…!" She was about to move to Blanc, but then three Neptunes attempted to slice her. She raised her rifle up and blocked the attacks, but she was getting pushed back.

"GRRR…!" Uni gritted her teeth as she was getting pushed back. She was going to crash if this kept up, and of course, she had no plans of letting that happen.

"S-Scatter… Fire…!" Uni pulled the trigger of her rifle, and suddenly, raining beams dropped down on her position, which hit her attackers and vaporized them in an instant.

"Haah…" Uni's breathing was heavier than normal. She could also feel her body getting hot and heavier each second, and she could barely lift her rifle anymore. But no, she couldn't drop it just yet. Three minutes wouldn't be a very long time, and they had to survive. Though three minutes would be like forever if you pay attention to it.

At the same moment, Blanc flew back to Uni's position after recovering from the attack she received earlier. Her processor unit was already damaged, but she didn't give up just yet.

"Ms. Blanc… are you… alright…?" Uni asked. Every second, the pain they were feeling was getting intense.

"No shit… I'm not…" Blanc said as she gripped her axe tighter. "I won't… go down… with… something like… this…!" With all her might, Blanc spun around and threw her axe, which sliced a lot of Neptunes on its way, went back to her and caught it like a boomerang.

"Haah… Haah…" Blanc gripped on her chest. She was short on breathing; her lungs wouldn't hold out if this kept on going.

But she had to, or else her nation will meet its demise.

Uni immediately averted her eyes away from Blanc and tried to fight back. Each pull of her rifle's trigger gave her a very strong recoil. Her stance was not stable, and her arms were shaking as she held her weapon.

"…H-Hit…! Dammit…!" Uni kept on firing, but none of her bullets hit anything. It would be very hard to hit her target when it was moving plus her unstable state. If at the very least, her targets weren't moving, she could handle it.

"Uni… listen to me…!" Blanc called Uni as she flew near her. "I… I can't swing my axe… anymore, I'll need… your help…"

Uni didn't think twice and agreed on it. "I've got your back…!"

"Alright, then…" Blanc said. "I know… you've been thinking of this too… so I'll stop their movements… and you will shoot them… alright…?"

Uni nodded without hesitation. The pain in their whole bodies was growing intense by the second, and they still had to hold out for around two minutes.

"Alright… let's go…!" Blanc flew to the army of incoming Neptunes. She didn't try to swing her weapon and instead, she just placed it in front of her as if using it as a shield. As she made contact, five Neptunes tried to slash Blanc, but all of those attacks were blocked.

"Uni… now…!"

As she said that, an irregularly shaped laser vaporized the Neptunes in front of her. Blanc turned to where Uni was, and she received a thumbs up from her. Though Uni was getting awkward and shaking all over the place.

At the very least, they could keep this teamwork up.

"Alright… let's do this…!"

 **~o~O~o~**

Leanbox – Airspace.

Vert was struggling. Not because of the invaders, but because of the pain she was feeling inside her body. Good thing that the two people helping her weren't affected in any way so they could still fight the way they used to, but Vert, on the other hand, had her performance dropped significantly below average.

"Haah…" Vert was breathing very heavy. Good thing that the Neptunes heading her way were only few in numbers, so dealing with them wasn't too much of a problem. It was as if her two aids knew that there was something wrong with her right now.

But still, she can't let her guard down. Even if she could handle the few ones well, her state was still unstable. One wrong move could end her life in an instant.

"Goddess… I wish this would be over already…" Vert said as she looked at the barrier. It was around halfway covering Leanbox's airspace, as it was designed to cover for tens of thousands of feet above ground. She needed to hold out for at least a minute and a half more.

And so, she dragged her shaking body to intercept the incoming enemies.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Outskirts.

In this place, a lot of corpses were laying down on the ground. Like, a lot, and most of them were identical to each other; except for two.

Although the place was filled with dead bodies, there was a woman standing on the ground. The woman looked very much the same as most of the corpses on the ground. That implied that she was the real one, and the rest of them were clones, or fakes, or whatever they would be called.

"…"

She was none other than the CPU of Planeptune, Neptune, currently in her HDD form, Purple Heart. She was wielding a large katana, and that said katana was stabbed onto someone's back, who was laying on the ground, dead. That someone was one of the two person who didn't look the same as the rest of the dead bodies on the ground.

Neptune pulled her katana up from the body and sighed in disappointment. "This wasn't supposed to be the plan…" She mumbled to herself. "…That _girl…_ she's a citizen of Planeptune…"

Well, what's done is done.

Neptune then dematerialized her katana and sighed once more. "…That's enough failure for today." She then turned around and flew away, but before she could get far, she felt something from behind.

"…!"

Her eyes widened from what she saw. Lastation's land was gradually getting covered by a barrier that seemed to be made of some sort of energy, and it was moving fast.

"…So that's your plan, huh?"

Neptune flew back to Lastation and chased the emerging barrier. She kept on increasing her flight speed to match the barrier's rise speed, but it seemed like she couldn't. Partly because she was worn out from her battle earlier.

"…I guess I'll stay for a bit longer, then."

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – City.

Just above Lastation's land, Noire could be seen fighting the fake Neptunes alone. It had been more or less two minutes since the barrier started to rise, but her foes didn't seem to have been reduced, but they weren't that many anymore. Ever since she started weakening, more invaders had broken through her defenses and managed to wreak havoc in the city. She was defending all by herself, after all.

"…Kuh…!"

Noire just blocked three swords in front of her. She was already fatigued from the continuous loss of her shares, but she didn't yield. And so, her determination was the only one giving her strength.

"Why… don't all of you… just freaking die…!" Noire gripped on the handle of her sword tightly and swung it with all her might. She spun around as well as she swung her sword, releasing a massive wave of energy that eliminated the fake Neptunes in front of her and the approaching ones in one sweep.

"Haah… Haah…" Noire gripped on her chest as she tried to catch her breathing. The pain was getting intense, probably because the barrier was reaching its final phase and Histoire was consuming more and more shares.

She can't let her situation get ahead of her. There were still a few enemies to waste; she can't afford to rest yet.

"…"

Noire raised her head up and looked at the barrier. It'd be just a matter of time before it would be completed. But before she could sigh in relief, she noticed something from the barrier.

"…Is… that…?"

She was seeing something. No, that wasn't right. She was seeing _someone_ chasing the barrier. That _someone_ was trying to match the barrier's speed, and for that _someone_ to take the time to just do that, it would mean just one thing.

And another thing, that _someone_ wasn't just anyone.

"…Neptune…?!"

Yes, it was Neptune, the CPU of Planeptune. She knew that that Neptune from above wasn't a fake, but the real one, because she was moving objectively. And her objective was…

"…You're not getting in our way, Neptune…!" Noire ignored the fakes heading towards her way and just boosted herself up top. She felt a very strong surge of pain as she raised her altitude, but she didn't let it get through her.

The barrier was almost closing, but she wasn't even halfway the altitude of it. Noire knew that she needed to increase her speed or else she wouldn't make it.

"…Ngh…!" Noire tried increasing her speed, but she just felt another surge of pain in her body which made her slow down instead. But she couldn't give up just yet; she had to do something to prevent Neptune from doing whatever she was planning to do.

"If I… won't make it… then…!" Noire hastily summoned a tornado sword on her left hand. The barrier was almost complete, and Neptune was just neck and neck with it. "…This… will stop you…!"

Noire spun around with all her might and threw the tornado sword straight up to where the barrier will close in. As the barrier was nearly closing, Neptune instantaneously jumped up and plummeted down to prevent it from closing, but before she could do so…

"…Wha-?!"

Neptune immediately rolled to the side and barely avoided Noire's tornado sword, completely missing her chance to stop the barrier. Lastation was finally fully protected, as even Neptune tried to smash through the barrier, it didn't do a single dent.

"…Damn it, you outsmarted me today, Noire." Neptune said as she stepped away from the barrier.

Down below, Noire was panting very hard. She stared at Neptune who was fleeing away; most likely she realized that she no more had any business here in Lastation.

"…Not today… Neptune…" Noire said as she deeply sighed in relief. The pain she was feeling was also gone, most likely because Histoire had stopped consuming their shares. Noire looked down below, and saw some the remaining Neptunes heading to her Basilicom, and some were destroying the city.

"You lots don't know when to give up, do you?" Noire said as she prepared herself. She was mostly recovered and her strength had returned to her. "Time to clean up this damn mess…!"

In an instant, Noire kicked the air and plummeted down towards the remaining Neptunes. She sliced half of their numbers as she passed through them, with her sword smashing the ground as she landed, creating a shockwave half a kilometer radius. She then propelled herself up and sliced the remaining Neptunes at near lightning speed who were wrecking the buildings. Their bodies just fell down to the ground.

"…This wasn't supposed to happen…" Noire mumbled to herself as she descended to the ground and looked around her. Just outside the city, there were flames everywhere, and the city itself was damaged from the battle earlier.

Noire stabbed her sword onto the ground and fell on her knees. Partly because she was almost out of strength, but mostly because her nation was harmed. She could see some of her people around who failed to evacuate to the shelter, injured, and worse, lifeless.

"…Damn it…!" Noire punched the flat side of her sword and gritted her teeth. Even though she did her best to protect her nation, her best wasn't good enough. Either way, this was inevitable.

Noire was about to punch her sword again when she received an incoming call from Histoire. "…Histoire…?"

" _Encapsulation is successful. How are things on your end?"_ Histoire asked.

Noire just clenched her fists. "…Not good, but not the worst."

" _I see. Please return to your terminal. I have something to talk to all of you."_ Histoire said.

"Alright, I'll be on my way." Noire said and ended the call.

Noire picked her sword up and flew back to her Basilicom without further ado.

 **~o~O~o~**

Noire arrived back in the Basilicom in just a few minutes. She called her all of her staffs and told them to issue a search & rescue and recovery operations, for the purpose of finding civilians who failed to evacuate and to rebuild the destroyed infrastructures.

"Am I clear here? I'll join the operation later; I need to do something." Noire said as she finished explaining what they should do.

"Yes!" Everyone said and they started to split up.

Noire didn't waste a single second and went to the terminal room. After entering the room, she immediately opened the comms and initiated a conference. The first one to join was Histoire as her image popped out on the screen.

"Histoire, I'm here."

" _I see, Blanc and Uni haven't—oh, here they are."_ Histoire said and two people appeared behind her. It was Uni, her sister, and Blanc. _"Now we wait for Vert to arrive."_

"Déjà vu, girls." Noire said as she sighed. "Vert's late again."

" _Cut her some slack, Noire."_ Blanc said as she crossed her arms. _"She's probably still dealing with the damages in Leanbox."_

Noire crossed her arms. Well, she couldn't say that she didn't expect that reply from Blanc. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I've been there." She said. "How are you doing, Uni?"

" _I'm fine. Ms. Blanc and I managed to keep the Basilicom and most of the city safe."_ Uni said as she smiled through the screen. That relieved Noire. It seemed like Uni was growing properly as a great CPU.

"That's good to hear." Noire said with a smile of relief. It would be a great disaster if Lowee, of all places, was destroyed.

They talked about what they did after Neptune left their respective territories for a while, since Vert hadn't placed a call yet. But not long after their conversation, they received an incoming call from her.

"Vert! What took you so long?" Noire asked as Vert popped out on the screen.

Vert took a deep breath first before talking. _"I apologize. I stayed in a hospital for a while because one of the two people who aided me in defending Leanbox was injured."_ She said. _"So, what do you want to talk about, Histoire?"_

" _Ah, yes."_ Histoire then cleared her throat before talking. _"The encapsulation is complete, but we need to establish a link between Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox so we and the people can cross the lands as we want to."_

Noire raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, that's our plan originally. What's wrong?"

" _We have three options to do that."_ Histoire said as she raised three of her fingers. _"First, we can create a portal that will connect the three nations, but only people can travel in there and it will take a lot of resources. The fastest method, if I may say."_

" _Second, we can create a concentrated link between the three nations, but there will be a traffic on the passage as well because all trips will use the same passageway."_

" _Third, we can combine the barriers and create a single one that will cover the three nations, but that somehow will weaken its strength to the extent of which I don't know yet."_

All of the CPUs just nodded after hearing Histoire's suggestion. Every option seemed to be a good choice, but each of them had their own downsides. They had to choose the practical one that will serve as a long term solution.

" _Hmmm, all solutions seem to be good."_ Vert said.

But Blanc shook her head. _"I'd cross out the third option."_ Blanc said. Before the rest of them could ask why, she spoke out her mind. _"We don't want to sabotage safety for convenience, do we?"_

" _Point taken."_ Histoire said as she nodded in agreement. _"Third option is out of the question now."_

That left them the first two had their own upsides and downsides, so they would need to choose the option that will benefit both them and their people.

" _What do you think, Noire?"_ Vert asked.

Noire gave it a deep thought. She was trying to compare both options; which of them that will serve as a good solution. One that would satisfy both safety and convenience.

It didn't take her more than five minutes to come up with a decision. But first things first…

"Histoire." Noire called. "Can the passageway be altered?"

That gave Uni, Vert, and Blanc questions marks. Histoire probably knew what Noire was thinking, but she decided to ask anyway. _"Not for now, but I'll do something about it in the future."_

"Alright, that settles it, then." Noire said as she nodded. "We'll go with the second option."

" _Mind telling us what you have in mind, Noire?"_ Vert asked. Even though she had no objection with that decision, she still wanted to know the reason.

"Nothing too grand. We can just further improve the link by expanding and fortifying it." Noire said. "At the very least for now, we need something that will let us cross the borders."

Histoire sighed. _"Well, I can't say I didn't expect that."_ She said. _"Alright, I can do it. When should we start?"_

"Right now, if possible."

Histoire blinked twice before replying. _"Okay, then. I'm kind of fatigued a little right now, so it'll take me three hours to finish it."_

" _Why does Histoire always do things in a very slow pace?"_ Vert mumbled as she scratched her cheeks, hoping that it wouldn't be heard by Histoire. But nope, her voice was loud and clear.

Histoire just popped a nerve after hearing that comment. Well, she had her creator to thank for creating her like this. She was about to say something in return when Noire spoke, "Don't ask useless things, Vert. Besides, we need to rest so we can plan out our next move. It works both ways."

Vert didn't reply a word and just smiled awkwardly. Well, they really need a good rest since they'd be using their brains later on.

" _So, if there's no more concerns, I'm going to start working now."_ Histoire said and her body glowed, with several virtual windows appearing around her. _"You're free to do as you please in the next three hours."_

After that, one by one, they left their respective posts and their conference ended.

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Planeptune – Basilicom._

 _In a certain room in the upper levels of the Basilicom, there was a girl lying down on the bed. Was she sleeping? One could say that, but she wasn't really sleeping. Even though her eyes were closed, her consciousness was awake._

 _Why so?_

 _She wasn't really sure that herself, if she were going to be honest._

" _Sis…"_

 _Yes, the girl's name was Nepgear, the CPU of Planeptune. Technically, because she had been the CPU of the nation when her sister, Neptune, was missing. But when Neptune came back, she of course couldn't just go back to being a CPU candidate. That wouldn't make sense at all._

" _I'm glad… that you're back… but…"_

 _As for why she was mumbling about her sister as she laid down on her bed, she wasn't sure herself. Her mind was jumbled; that was why she was just lying down on her bed. She couldn't think straight at all, as if there was something destroying her line of thought._

" _I… don't know… what's going on… anymore…"_

" _Make it stop… Please…"_

" _Stop…"_

 _And that was when she lost consciousness._

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Basilicom.

Noire just arrived back in her Basilicom. She went out for about two hours to oversee and aided the recovery operations she issued earlier. So far, everything was going smoothly. The outskirts weren't touched yet because the damage in the city was her top priority.

And so, there was still an hour before Histoire finishes the link establishment, so she used the remaining time to clean herself. She could use some shower as sweat was covering her entire body, and she felt sticky.

As Noire let herself immersed in the bath, her mind wandered elsewhere. They just had a rough morning; a lot of stuff happened in just a short time.

It was already past noon when Noire got out of the bathroom.

"Histoire should be done by now…"

Noire was about to head back to her terminal when her phone rang.

"Blanc…?" Noire mumbled as she checked who the caller was. She then accepted the call. "What's up, Blanc?"

" _The link is complete. Histoire wants you to come over here in Lowee."_ Blanc said through the phone. _"I've already contacted Vert. She's on the way now."_

Noire wished that the meeting would take place here in Lastation so she wouldn't travel anymore, but oh well, she knew that Histoire couldn't leave the terminal in Lowee, so she didn't complain anymore.

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Noire ended the call and threw her phone on her bed. She then changed to her usual outfit and exited the room without further ado.

"…"

She looked around the skies. Now that she had a good look on it, the barrier seemed to be transparent, as the blue skies could still be seen through it.

"No time for sightseeing." Noire transformed and immediately burst out to the skies. Since Lowee was at around Northwest of Lastation, she headed for that direction. As soon as she arrived near the border, she saw a huge passageway leading outside of Lastation.

"With this big, I don't think traffic will be a problem." Noire said as she awkwardly looked at the hole. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to improve this later."

Noire then entered the passageway and made her way to Lowee. As she flew, she felt that her flight speed was faster than normal as she arrived in Lowee a little quicker, even though she wasn't exerting extra effort in doing so.

"Histoire sure knows her way on things." Noire said as she stared back at the passageway. Well, it was super convenient, if she was going to be honest. "Remind me to thank her later."

Noire then turned around and headed straight to Lowee's Basilicom. In no more than ten minutes, she arrived at the Basilicom's front. She didn't waste any second and entered the said place, in which she was greeted by the staff as they saw her. Noire greeted them back as a sign of acknowledgement.

"…"

Noire was walking down the corridors of the upper levels of the Basilicom. Not too long after that, she arrived at a certain door which had a power button symbol imprinted on it, and it was glowing. She knocked twice before opening the door.

"Pardon for the intrusion." Noire said as she stepped inside the room. From there, she saw Histoire sitting on a platform, with a crystal that took shape of a power button floating above her head, with Blanc and Uni beside her.

"Sis…!" Uni ran towards Noire and threw herself into her sister's arms. "I'm glad that you're okay!"

Noire smiled as she caressed her sister's hair. "Come on, you seriously thought that I would lose?"

"But… you know… it's Neptune…" Uni said as she stepped away from Noire.

Noire raised an eyebrow. She didn't quite get what Uni was trying to say. And so Noire looked at Blanc, who just averted her eyes away from her, which gave her a lot more questions.

"Yeah, she's ridiculously strong, I know that. Sending an army like that to conquer us…"

Uni just laughed nervously, while Blanc face palmed. Noire didn't understand why they were doing that, and when she was about to ask, they heard a knock from the door and it opened afterward.

"You sure took your time, Vert." Noire said as she saw the person who just entered the room.

Yes, it was Vert. The CPU of Leanbox, who just arrived. "Ah, I apologize. I dropped by the hospital to check up my two friends and tell them that I'll be leaving for a while, but they wanted to come with me, so I talked to the doctor about that."

"Two friends?" Blanc asked.

Short while after that, two girls entered the room. The other one had bandages around her limbs; probably the one that Vert said earlier who was injured.

"Hi! The name's CyberConnect2, pleased to meet you, CPUs!" The girl with choppy short hair and green eyes introduced. She was wearing a black and white cat-like hat with a white visor and green & orange goggles on her head. She had pale yellow tattoos scattered around her body, visible on her shoulders, torso, cheeks, and thighs. Her outfit consist of a green and white top, with a black top of the same length underneath it. She was also wearing a white and green shorts with an orange belt and green buckle with "CC2" imprinted on it, which of course stands for her name. She had a pair of long black gloves with two orange stripes on top, near her shoulder. Around her wrists were two short and white gloves with a gold band around it. Lastly, she had a tail of a fox behind her, which somehow intrigued the people inside the room, but nobody dared to ask her about it.

"I'm from Fukoka; located around the south." CC2 added.

Noire was surprised to hear that. "…Fukoka? Never heard of that place before…" She said. Noire turned to Blanc, but she just swung her head, implying that she never heard of that as well. The same went with Uni and Vert.

"…Ahahaha… yeah, for some reason, Fukoka is really not that popular." CC2 said as she scratched the back of her head.

After that, Noire turned to the other girl, the one with bandages.

"This girl here is MarvelousAQL." Vert said as she tapped the said girl's shoulders. "Come on, introduce yourself."

The said girl stepped forward and bowed afterward. "Hi! My name's MarvelousAQL!" She introduced with a beaming smile. MarvelousAQL had a short, orange hair just above her shoulders in length, with matching eye color and a music note symbol in the middle, and was wearing an earpiece microphone. Her outfit consist of a white, open-buttoned up shirt with blue circles with black lining on the shoulder which seemed to be a little tight for her proportions, a red ribbon around her neck, matching cuffs on her wrists, and black pleated skirt with a gray jacket around her waist with two swords on the side. Her shoes matched her top in design, with the same color of white base and black lining.

"My friends call me Marvy, so it's fine if you call me that too."

"Nice to meet you, Marvy. I'm Noire, CPU of Lastation." Noire said as she offered her hand, in which Marvy accepted. They shook hands afterward. "This here's my sister, Uni." She said as she pulled her sister closer. Uni could just nod at her. Well, it seemed like she still couldn't deal with her social anxiety, or so.

"Due to the code of the Shinobi Academy, I cannot disclose my origins, so I apologize in advance." She said. "But in any case, if you needed help, I'm always available!"

That didn't sound convincing to Noire due to the bandages all over her body, but she decided not to say it.

But of course, Marvy knew what she was thinking. "Don't worry about my injuries, I'll recover in no time."

"Okay…" Noire could just make an awkward smile. She had to be careful about what she was thinking whenever she comes across with this girl.

After that, Blanc stepped forward to introduce herself to the newcomers. "I'm Blanc, CPU of this nation. Nice to meet you, CyberConnect2, and Marvy."

"Likewise!" The two said in unison.

Next was Histoire as she flew towards Noire to introduce herself. "It's nice to meet you, CyberConnect2, Marvy. I'm Histoire, the one who guides Planeptune."

As Marvy and CC2 heard that, they instantly stepped back and made a battle stance.

"Whoa, whoa, relax, girls." Vert then blocked the two before they could try anything. "She's not an enemy. She helped us in establishing the barrier."

That didn't seem to calm the down yet, as they still had a hostile aura towards Histoire.

"Lower your weapons, girls." Noire said as she stepped in front of Histoire. "If you want to harm Histoire, you'll have to go through me first."

Marvy and CC2 gulped. Noire looked so serious that she could cut their heads off if they try to hurt Histoire. They looked at each other before lowering their weapons down. A CPU would be the last person they wanted to fight.

"Thank you." Vert said as she sighed in relief. "Histoire, you really need to find the best time for your words."

Histoire raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why now wouldn't be the best time to tell them." She said like it was a matter of fact. "I don't want to hide any secrets, so it's better to get it out of the way first."

Everyone was silent. They didn't expect that from Histoire, of course.

"What? Did I say something weird?"

Noire chuckled. "Never knew you were an assertive person, Histoire."

The rest of them could just nod in agreement, while Histoire didn't understand where Noire got that impression. But either way, she didn't ask further as they had better things to discuss about.

"I don't know what you mean, but now's not the time for that." Histoire said after clearing her throat. "I hope you haven't forgotten our agreement, Noire."

With that said, everyone's silly expressions turned into a serious one as they looked at Histoire. It was time for a serious discussion.

"I keep my words, Histoire." Noire said as she crossed her arms. "But, with what we have done, there's one slight problem but, I'm sure you know that already, right?"

That somehow left the people aside from Noire and Histoire confused. So in order for them to catch up, Histoire decided to start from the bottom.

"What Noire is trying to say is, with the barrier erected, we're pretty much locked inside." Histoire said.

Silence.

"WHAAAT?!" Everyone aside from Histoire and Noire shouted in unison.

"S-So, does that mean, we can't step outside as long as it's up?!" Blanc said as her hands were shaking. "How are we supposed to get Nepgear back then?"

Histoire raised her head to stop Blanc from talking. "Relax, I'm not done talking yet." She said.

Everyone then paid close attention to what Histoire was about to say.

"We can use Celestia to take us outside." Histoire said.

Every one of them looked at each other's eyes. Histoire's suggestion was plausible, yes. In every Basilicom, a device could take them to Celestia and vice versa.

But of course…

"Wait, Histoire." Noire intervened. All eyes turned to her as she stepped forward. "While I agree with you, I don't think it will be convenient for Marvy and CC2."

Histoire raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, going down from Celestia is possible and easy for us, but going up to Celestia from the ground is a different story." Noire explained. Everyone made an "Ah" expression as they realized what Noire was trying to say. "And I'm sure the moment we take Nepgear away from Planeptune, a horde of Neptune on our tail would be the least of our worries."

"Ah, yes. I didn't think of that possibility." Histoire said as she sighed. "So, with your explanation, I'm assuming that you will be needing a portal out of this barrier, right?"

Noire nodded. The rest of them agreed to her. A portal would be the quickest and the most convenient method for a grab-and-run mission.

"You have any methods, Histoire?" Vert asked.

Histoire swung her head. "As of now, no. I will need to consult my manual, and it will take me three days to find one. Though I am not sure if it will be a good one."

"Three days, huh…?" Blanc crossed her arms. "Well, I guess that's okay so we can prepare as well."

Everyone agreed to it. They could use some preparations, and Marvy needed to recover first as she was injured from the previous battle. Yep, no one dared to complain, as they just had a rough morning and a few goodnight's sleep would be good.

"Alright then, let's-"

Before Histoire could say what she was about to say, a cloud of dark red mist suddenly covered the entire room. This led everyone take their respective battle stances.

" **There's no need for you to do that, Histoire."** A voice echoed inside the room.

Every one of them looked around, trying to find who just intruded, but obviously, they didn't see any suspicious person, as they couldn't even see properly.

"That voice…" Histoire mumbled to herself. "Is that you, Uzume?"

After saying that name, the dark red mist disappeared and a girl with midnight blue hair, wearing dark black clothes appeared before them.

"It really is you, Uzume." Histoire said as she sighed in relief. If it was anyone other than her, disaster in this room would be inevitable.

Uzume just gave her a light smile as a response. "I just happen to overhear what you were discussing, and I've come to offer my help."

The other CPUs didn't seem to be convinced with Uzume's proposal. Well, if anything, they were being skeptical towards her because she was really unpredictable. She just disappeared before all of a sudden without saying anything, and now showing herself before them whenever it was convenient for her.

No doubts. Uzume had an ulterior motive, was what everyone was thinking.

"Don't give me that look. I want Nepgear back as well." Uzume said as she crossed her arms. "I can take you to Planeptune."

"You can do that?" Blanc didn't look so convinced.

Uzume sighed. "You heard me."

With Uzume offering her help, Noire remembered what happened back when they were in the castle from the other dimension. It was that time when Noire tried to attack Uzume, but her sword got destroyed instead single-handedly.

"I know I shouldn't be saying this but, why can't you bring Nepgear back yourself, Uzume?" Noire asked. "You're ridiculously strong, that much I can admit."

Marvy and CC2 was just silent as they didn't know what Noire was talking about. Histoire, on the other hand, thought that Noire must've crossed swords with Uzume before, but she was uncertain, so she kept quiet as well and let the discussion go along. Maybe with that, she could acquire more information about Uzume.

"…" Uzume didn't answer and just crossed her arms as she stared sharply at Noire. The CPU didn't feel any intimidation coming from her and just stayed still, expecting an answer from Uzume.

The atmosphere inside the room was getting intense as Uzume and Noire stared at each other. Nobody dared to get in between them as they felt like their heads would be detached from their torsos the moment they do so. And when they thought that it was going to last forever, Uzume spoke.

"Come here, Noire."

Noire narrowed her eyes. She couldn't read Uzume at all, but nevertheless, she walked towards her. Uzume extended her hand as Noire stopped in front of her.

"Touch my hand."

Noire didn't look so pleased with that. "What are you planning?"

"Just do it."

Noire reluctantly raised her hand and attempted to touch Uzume's hand. But when she was about to do so, her hand froze.

"…"

A lot of scenario popped inside Noire's mind. She was imagining what could possibly happen the moment she touches Uzume's hand. Worse scenarios, that is.

"I won't do anything, I promise." Uzume said and sighed in disappointment. "Now, touch my hand."

Noire gulped. She didn't really want to do this but she had no choice. Else, her question wouldn't be answered.

'Here goes nothing.' She though as she attempted to touch Uzume's hand, and as she did so…

"Huh…?"

Noire didn't feel Uzume's hand. No, that wasn't quite right. Her hand didn't touch her at all. It just passed right through Uzume's hand. Everyone was surprised to see that as well; they didn't expect this outcome.

"So, you got your answers now?" Uzume asked.

Noire sweat dropped. "Uzume… what are you?"

Uzume didn't say anything and just walked through Noire, which somehow frightened the rest of the people inside the room. "I'm someone that you can call a 'ghost' or something like that."

Everyone was speechless. They couldn't comprehend at all.

"D-Does that mean… you're dead…?" Uni asked as she was shaking.

"Dead… huh?" Uzume said as she stared at her own hands. "Yeah, I'm pretty much close to that, but not quite." She then turned to Histoire. "I'm sure Histoire knows already, she's staring at me for quite a while now."

After that, all eyes turned to Histoire, who was looking at Uzume. Judging from the look on her face, Histoire seemed to have an idea about what Uzume was saying.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but… you do not belong in this world, do you?" Histoire asked. That shocked everyone inside the room aside from her and Uzume.

Uzume chuckled a little. "That's Histoire for you. You weren't named as that for no reason." She said, which somehow confused Histoire. "Yes, what you said is true. I do not belong in this world."

"Wait, if that's the case, then that dimension where we were before…?!" Blanc was shocked after realizing what was going on.

Uzume nodded at her. "Yes, and no at the same time." She said and swung her head. "I'd rather not go into complicated details, but let's just say that… that dimension is the amalgamation of _my dimension_ and _what I wished_ for it."

That raised a lot of questions from the other girls. Hard as they tried to comprehend what Uzume was saying, they just couldn't. Her logic was beyond any normal world could have.

"You did go into complicated details, anyway…" Vert commented.

Uzume sighed. "You don't need to worry about that. I used to think sorts of stupid stuff before I met Nepgear." Her lips then cracked a smile after mentioning Nepgear's name.

From the eyes of the people around Uzume, Nepgear must've been very important to her. No, important would be an understatement. Nepgear was far greater than that to Uzume.

"Oops, we've sidetracked too much." Uzume said as she collected herself. The serious discussion was starting already. "Let's discuss our way into Planeptune."

"Remember the rooms inside the underground caves inhabited by the Gods of Fire?" Uzume asked. Marvy and CC2 didn't have any idea about that because they hadn't gone down there themselves, but the CPUs knew about it, and so they nodded at Uzume in agreement. "I will open a portal in there to _my dimension_ and then to Planeptune."

Everyone made an "Oh!" expression. That plan was indeed plausible, and it would be the safest and most convenient for them since CC2 and Marvy wouldn't have problems going with them. At least, it would be better than using Celestia as their gateway.

"Oh, and don't worry about the monsters. I've taken care of it already." Uzume said as she smirked, which irked the CPUs, especially Noire. Yep, Uzume was definitely bragging her strength, and Noire was mostly affected by it since she experienced Uzume's power firsthand. "I already reconstructed the God of Fire's room in Planeptune, so there's nothing to worry about that."

"I'm surprised you managed to slip under Neptune's radar." Histoire said.

Uzume just waved her hands. "I don't know about that." She said as she bit her lip. "Well, that's the plan, so if anyone has a better idea, don't hesitate to speak up."

There was a silence for a short while. It seemed like they decided to roll with Uzume's plan. Either way, that or they would have to wait for Histoire to search for another method, which could be better or worse than Uzume's.

"Okay, I guess that's it. Let's meet up back here in three days, morning time." Uzume said as she clapped her hands. She then turned to Marvy and CC2. "You two should get some rest."

"Yes!" The two said in unison and left the room with Vert.

Noire then exited the room with Blanc, followed by Histoire but she was stopped by Uzume. "Wait, Histoire."

Histoire stopped on her tracks and turned to Uzume. "Hm? What's wrong?"

"Do you mind if I ask a question…?" Uzume asked. Histoire just swung her head, implying that she didn't really mind. "Have you seen any of these?" She asked as two photos appeared in front of her.

Histoire took a good look of the photos. From what she could see, one image shows some sort of console with a swirl mark on it, and the other one was a controller in which the cord somehow could fit into the console. She somehow felt a little disturbed as she saw the photos, but she was sure of herself that she had never seen it before.

"I've never seen these before, but for some reason I…" Histoire paused and bit her lip. She really couldn't calm down as she stared at the photos. Did it play a significant role for Uzume, or for her before? That was a question that she wanted to answer, but no, she couldn't.

Uzume hid the photos afterward. "If you haven't seen it, it's okay." Uzume then gave her a smile. "Though if you find any leads to it, let me know."

"Okay, but how can I find you?" Histoire asked. With Uzume just disappearing without a trace and reappearing when convenient for her, Histoire had to ask for a way to contact her.

"Don't worry…"

Dark red mist then covered Uzume's body and she disappeared from Histoire's sight afterward.

"I'll find you."

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Planeptune – Basilicom._

 _Inside a certain room in the Basilicom, the CPU of the nation, Neptune, was sitting on the chair beside a desk. On top of it was a computer, and her full attention was directed to it, as if the things on the screen were very important._

 _In which, they were indeed._

 _On the screen were multiple images of Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox, with each protected by a barrier. What could Neptune be planning for it?_

"…"

 _She just scrolled down as she kept on looking at the photos. It wasn't just a collage of photos; it was some sort of article about it._

"…"

 _Silence._

 _She just kept on scrolling, but her reaction was nothing. It seemed like she was looking for something, but so far, there wasn't anything she could find worth her attention._

" _Haah…"_

 _Neptune closed whatever she was reading and stretched her arms upward._

" _What a bunch of cowards. And you dare call yourselves CPUs…" She then leaned on her chair and sighed in disappointment._

 **~o~O~o~**

Three days had passed.

The four CPUs plus Marvy, CC2, and Histoire were gathered in Lowee's Basilicom, in the terminal room. It seemed like they were waiting for someone to arrive.

"…"

The room was quiet, with only the sound of Noire's foot tapping the floor as she crossed her arms. It seemed like someone was getting impatient right there.

"…For someone who appears so suddenly, I can't believe that Uzume's not yet appearing before us." Noire said as her eyebrow twitched. Well, the CPUs shared the same thoughts about that. "I can understand if it's Vert, but her as well…!"

Now that didn't please Vert. "Hey, what did I do to warrant such treatment? My reasons are for more rational!" Vert defended, but Noire didn't really listen to her. Being late was still late, regardless of how long it was and whatever reason for it.

"Leave her be, Vert." Blanc said as she sighed in disappointment. "You'll just get stressed."

Vert just sighed as well. Marvy and CC2 didn't say a word and just made an awkward smile. Histoire could just face palm. Despite agreeing to a treaty of peace, these three seemed to still couldn't get along with each other.

Short while after that, the door opened and someone entered the room.

"Oh, all of you are already here. Good." The person who just entered said.

Noire popped a nerve. "Don't 'Good' me, Uzume! We've been waiting for almost an hour here!" She said angrily. "Moreover, how the hell did you open the door?!"

"Come on, don't beat yourself up over trivial things." Uzume said nonchalantly as she shrugged Noire off. "More importantly, are you all prepared? Especially you two, Marvy and CyberConnect2."

The two nodded as a response. "Yep! I slept like a log." Marvy said as she beamed a smile.

"No problems here." CC2 said and gave a thumbs up.

"Alright, let's meet up in the underground cave, in the God of Fire's room." Uzume said. "I've got something I need to do first so I'm gonna scram for a while." Dark red mist then covered her whole body and she disappeared along with it afterward.

Noire popped another nerve as Uzume disappeared. She really, really was getting annoyed with Uzume's sudden entrance and exit.

"Alright, ladies, you heard the lady, so let's get going before Noire pops every nerve in her head." Vert said as she led the squad to the door, with Noire grumbling as she followed them. Uni couldn't do anything and just gave her sister company so she wouldn't feel a little lonely. "Come on, Blanc. Say something to Histoire before we go." She said as she pulled Blanc close to her.

Blanc was reluctant, but yeah, it would be a little rude if they just left without saying anything to Histoire. "Histoire, I entrust this place in your hands while we're away."

"I will, Blanc." Histoire said as she smiled at them. "I pray for your success in rescuing Nepgear."

"Consider it done." Blanc said before exiting the room with everyone.

Histoire was left inside the terminal room. If she was going to be honest with herself, she was a little disturbed. Everything was going too well for them, and that gave her a room for slight doubts.

"I must be overthinking things…"

Yep, that was what she really wanted to think, but seriously, she really couldn't calm down.

Either way, she couldn't do anything as the CPUs already made their way to the underground cave.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – Underground Cave.

The group arrived at the entrance around half an hour after leaving the Basilicom. They didn't bother saying anything and nodded at each other and went inside. Good thing they brought a flashlight so they would be able to see where they would be going. As they arrived at a three-way passage, they stopped on their tracks.

"Come to think of it, we didn't really know where the God of Fire's room is." Noire said as she stared at the passages. "And Blanc got lost here before and failed to find it."

Blanc blushed out in embarrassment. Seriously though, it wasn't like her to get lost. She wasn't a directionally-challenged person, was she?

Or no?

"That's completely unnecessary, Noire." Blanc retorted.

"Now, now, there's no need to fret over it." Vert intervened to prevent the issue from growing. "Look, there is a sign with a dragon image on it. I think we're ought to follow that."

"That's surprisingly convenient…" Uni said as she scratched her cheek. CC2 and Marvy could just make an awkward face.

Yep, it was indeed convenient.

"Well, if it is really that convenient, we can assume that Uzume did this." Noire said as she sighed. "This must be why she left us earlier."

And so, they followed that sign without further questions. In any case, they had no better leads nor ideas, so they didn't have a choice and just rolled with that. Not long after that, they encountered another split road, but one of them had a sign similar to what they had encountered earlier.

"Yep, this is Uzume's doing." Noire was certain of it now.

They again followed that sign. Every time they encounter one, they wouldn't question it and just rolled with that way. Not long after that, they arrived at an enormous door, with weird carvings on it. And near it, someone was standing, who seemed to be waiting for their arrival.

"Took the scenic route, huh?"

Noire sighed. "You know, you could've just joined us earlier, Uzume." She said. Yep, the person who was waiting for them was Uzume.

"There's a good reason for that, though nothing but trivial." Uzume said and turned around, facing the door. She then opened it by just touching and the ground shook a little as it did so. "Come on in."

The group followed Uzume's lead. Well, that wasn't quite right, as they didn't see Uzume when they entered the room. They just saw her kneeling on the ground in the middle of the room as they went further inside because the room was too dark. Her fingers were running on the ground, seemingly trying to find something. Not long after that, a small spark was created as her finger made contact with something, and a portal appeared behind her.

"Whoa…" Marvy and CC2 couldn't believe what they were seeing. Well, it was their first time seeing one so being surprised was expected.

"Chin up, girls. Let's go." Uzume said as she stepped in the portal first, followed by Noire, Vert, Blanc, Uni, and lastly, CC2 and Marvy.

The appearance of the tunnel-like place they were walking in was nothing new to the CPUs, so they weren't really that fazed. But Marvy, CC2, and Uni were somehow disturbed by the different colors around them, so they clung onto Vert's arm, which somehow surprised her. Blanc was just glaring at them, though it wasn't like either of the four noticed her glares.

And yep, Noire knew this as she was constantly glancing behind. She just stopped doing that as she realized that it was pointless to continue.

"…"

Noire then directed her attention to Uzume, who was walking in front of her. She still didn't have any idea about Uzume's motives, and yeah, Noire couldn't just outright ask her about that.

She didn't realize that she was staring too much at Uzume.

"You know, Noire, if you want to ask something, just do so." Uzume said without turning to her. "We're still a little bit far, so a conversation would be nice."

"That's a little surprising for you to say. You just shut me up before because I ask a lot of questions." Noire said as she walked beside Uzume. That was the time before they met Neptune again.

Uzume could just smile awkwardly. "…That was then, this is now…"

"Well, whatever." Noire said as she shrugged the topic off. "What's your relationship with Nepgear? You seem to be too fond of her."

After hearing that question, Uzume bit her lip. Noire had no idea why Uzume did that, and of course, she wouldn't ask why she did so.

"Am I really now?" Uzume said after composing herself back. Noire just raised an eyebrow. "Well, we've been friends for a very long time now, so it comes natural, I guess?"

"Even I could tell that you're lying, Uzume." Noire said as she crossed her arms.

Uzume was silent for a moment.

"I'm not lying, Noire." Uzume said as she clenched her fists. Noire noticed that but she had no idea why Uzume did that. "That's the truth."

"Then why are you siding with us?" Noire asked. "You do know that in the eyes of normal folks, we're going to kidnap Nepgear, and we're taking her away from her sister."

Uzume then turned to Noire and their eyes met. For some reason, Noire felt a little chill down her spine as she stared at Uzume's dark blue eyes, like she was staring into a void.

"Don't get me wrong, Noire. I'm not siding with you, nor with Neptune, if you're suspecting me for something." Uzume said as she stared back at Noire. "I'm siding with _Nepgear_. It just so happens that our goals coincide, that's why I'm with you right now."

Noire completely had no idea about what Uzume was talking about. Siding with Nepgear? She was on Neptune's side, so that could mean that Uzume was on Neptune's side as well. But Uzume said that she wasn't on Neptune's side.

Noire's thoughts were jumbled. She couldn't understand Uzume's logic at all. Though she really wanted to, because she had a feeling that she might be able to understand Nepgear as well if she did so.

"I know you're confused, but like I said to you when we first met, I'm not your enemy." Uzume said as she cracked a smile. "That is, as long as don't try to kill Nepgear, in which I know you won't."

Noire pouted. There wasn't really a need to point out the obvious.

"I hope I answered your question. That's all you need to know for that question for now." Uzume said. Well, Noire knew that she was still hiding some things from her; but maybe, Uzume had good reasons for doing so. "If you still have questions, just ask."

Noire thought of something to ask, and _that one_ immediately came to her mind.

"Well, since we're here already… might as well get this out of my head." Noire said. "How did Neptune get revived?"

Uzume was silent. That was the question she was hoping not to be asked. But maybe a little hint would do the trick.

"That's… I can't really tell you the details but…" Uzume said and bit her lip again. Noire wasn't sure if it had any implication or just plain bad mannerism, but that wasn't really her concern right now. "Let's just say… Nepgear _wished_ for it, and it was answered."

"Why can't you give me a direct answer?" Noire asked. Both of her questions were vaguely answered, and that was not really satisfactory.

"Just because." Uzume said. "Some things are better left unsaid, Noire. And there are things that should only be learned at the right time and place."

Noire was speechless. While she didn't know Uzume that much, she certainly didn't see her as a philosophical one.

Their conversation ended after that. While Noire and Uzume was walking side by side in silence, the people behind them weren't so silent at all. Marvy, CC2, and Uni were sharing their opinions about how this place gave them creeps, with Vert entertaining them, and Blanc getting irritated for whatever reason.

"Say… should we shut them up?" Noire said. Obviously, she was getting annoyed by their mixed voices, making it an incomprehensible one.

"Leave them be." Uzume said as she pointed forward. A light could be seen from afar, which gave Noire an idea that they were nearing the end of the passageway. "We're nearly there. They'll shut themselves up."

Noire sighed. As they were nearing the exit, the four people behind them indeed shut themselves up. Uzume just gave Noire a "See?" look, in which the ravenette responded with an irritated look.

As they made their exit and entered the other dimension, Marvy, Uni, and CC2's eyes widened in surprise. What they were seeing was something beyond their expectations. In fact, this wasn't what they expected to see at all.

"Where… are we…?" Marvy asked particularly nobody. Well, automatically, that question was directed to Uzume.

"Welcome to my home." Uzume said as she faced everyone. "I know it looks ridiculous, but it's the truth. This is where I belong." She then offered her hands to them as she could see everyone's confused faces. "See for yourself."

The rest of the group didn't quite get what Uzume was trying to imply, but seeing her arms pose like they were inviting them, they one by one approached her. As they stopped in front of her, Uzume touched them one by one.

"Ah…" They were surprised as they actually felt Uzume's touch. It kind of felt weird for them to touch something, or someone who didn't exist.

"I just want to get that out of the way to avoid further misunderstandings later." Uzume said and then started to levitate away from their position. "Follow me."

The CPUs transformed, with Noire carrying Marvy, and Vert carrying CC2. Well, obviously because they couldn't fly so they had no choice. Short while after following Uzume, they landed on a certain island, in which a ruined building was erected on it. For some reason, the CPUs, with the exception of Uni, found it familiar, but they didn't know what it was because the structure was beyond recognition already.

"Wait here." Uzume said as she walked away from the group. She then ran her eyes around the ground, seemingly trying to look for something. The group just followed Kurome with their eyes as she walked around.

As soon as Uzume found what she was looking for, she raised her hand which was covered in dark red mist and then slammed it onto the ground. The ground shook a little as a portal slowly emerged before them.

"Alright, before you go, I want to give you all some advice." Uzume said as she blocked the portal. "Trust no one aside from yourselves."

That raised a lot of questions from the, but they could guess what Uzume was talking about.

"Second and last, avoid Neptune at all cost." Uzume warned. They could see that she really wasn't joking at all. "Whatever plans you have to get Nepgear out of Planeptune, don't include Neptune in it. I wouldn't even try to look at her if I were you."

Noire narrowed her eyes. "There must be something going on if someone like you says that." She said.

"Her power is growing stronger. That's all you need to know." Uzume said as she stared at both of her hands, which were covered in dark red mist. She then clenched her fists and the mist disappeared instantly. "And even with all of you combined, you wouldn't even last a minute against her."

Everyone gulped as they heard that. They could imagine lots of worst-case scenarios that could happen in their mission, but letting that get ahead of them would finish them off before they could even start.

"Are you all ready to go?" Uzume asked. Without any second thoughts, everyone nodded at her, in which Uzume nodded back and stepped back. "I will keep the portal open for as long as you need, but try not to take too long."

"The longer we stay, the higher the chance that Neptune will spot us, right?" Vert said. "We're infiltrating her Basilicom, after all."

Uzume swung her head. "Not just Neptune. You'll know when you see it, but I hope that you won't." She said as she looked at their eyes one by one. "Hence the first warning I gave you."

They suddenly felt nervous. They weren't sure if it was because of the warning, or because it was Uzume telling them that. Either way, they nodded at Uzume and took her warning to mind.

"I won't be able to help you once you're at the other side, so be careful out there."

One by one, the group entered the portal, with Noire the last one entering.

"Noire." Uzume called right after Noire entered the portal.

Noire stopped and turned back to Uzume. "What's wrong?"

Uzume didn't reply and just stared at Noire for a few moments. "…Nothing. Take care of yourself and your friends."

Noire raised an eyebrow out of confusion. She didn't really know why Uzume would repeat that. Did she strike a different light to Uzume? Noire didn't know, but she was sure of one thing: Uzume had her trust on her.

"Don't worry. We'll bring Nepgear back, safe and sound." Noire said and turned around, catching up with her friends.

As Uzume stared at Noire's shrinking figure due to growing distance, she bit her lip. If her feelings were to be described, she was frustrated. Whatever she was frustrated of, she herself only knew.

"I hope it was right to leave this job to them." She mumbled to herself. Too late to say that now, though.

All she could do was hope for the best, though judging from the things she saw earlier in Planeptune…

* * *

 **Alright, chapter 9 is done!**

 **Sorry if it took so long. I'm still not used to writing long chapters, because I tend to derail from the outline I made, so yeah, I don't have a choice though (One reason is because I was playing Superdimension Nep vs SeHaGirls so yeah, it ate a lot of my time). Because there are still a lot of stuff needs to be written in the fic, so I'm trying to make longer chapters to compress the chapter count. And, proofreading is a pain in the eyes if it's too long.**

 **Two or three more chapters left (Last chapter is excluded, will be like Memories which has separate final chap)! I hope you guys stick with me for a bit longer! :3**

 **As usual, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Also your comments/violent reactions are welcome!**

 **Until next time, see ya guys!**


	10. Breaking In

**Hello guys! Time for chapter 10!**

 **I'm grateful to the people who are still sticking with me! You guys make me happy :)**

 **Anyways, to answer your questions!**

 **To Holix25: Hmmm, you'll have to see through the end to know the answer for that :^)**

 **To Draen: Dayum fam, i-it's not like I like tragedy or anything! By the way, do you think it's too late to hope that no one will die in this fic? XD**

 **To fe4lone: With regards to Kurome and Nepgear… well, you'll find that out soon xD**

 **Alright, once again, I give my thanks to everyone supporting this story! You guys are the best :3**

 **Onto the chapter now, enjoy!**

* * *

 _I opened my eyes._

 _I met an unusual scenery. Unusual because the skies were gray, the atmosphere was depressing, and the lands were dry. I could see the horizon from afar, but I knew to myself that there was nothing significant in there._

"…"

 _I knew this place. This place was very important to me. The place I was born in. The place I had a great attachment to._

 _This was…_

"…"

 _Yes, that was correct. It was that place. But, why did this place turn out like this? I had…_

" _No…"_

 _Actually, I already knew what happened. This place… was a disaster. No, that wasn't quite correct. It wasn't just this place…_

 _This world was a disaster. But why didn't I feel any sympathy towards it?_

 _I tried to move. Luckily, I had the ability to do so, but I couldn't do anything about the situation. All I could do was watch the scenery in front of me. This place was already dying, and there was nothing I could do to remedy this problem._

 _After walking for goddess knew how long, I arrived in the city, but there was nothing that resembled one in any way. All I could see were ruins, and not a single soul was present in this place._

 _Yet, in this ruins, there was one building that stood still._

"…"

 _I hurriedly walked towards that building and entered it. There was almost nothing left inside, as all I could see was the ceiling, the four walls, and the broken debris piled on the floor._

"… _Ah."_

 _No, that wasn't right. This place wasn't completely empty at all. On the other side, there was someone, sitting on a large chair. From afar, that person looked lifeless, but I knew that that person wasn't dead. And so, I walked closer towards the said person._

"…"

 _The person was a young girl. She was sitting on the chair, with a sword glowing in dark purple placed on top of both armrests, and her head lowered down. Her hands were limp; just hanging on her shoulders. From my perspective, this girl's life was slowly fading._

"…"

 _I didn't say anything as I just stared at her. For some reason, I was at loss of words; I didn't know what to say to her._

 _Because I personally knew her._

"… _Kurome…"_

 _I jerked a little as I heard a voice. That voice was coming from the girl in front of me, but she didn't move an inch._

" _I'm glad… that you're still… okay…" She said._

 _I bit my lip. I was not feeling too well seeing her like this and saying those words to me. I didn't like it. Not at all._

 _I tried to say something, but for some reason, I couldn't as I was completely at loss of anything to say. It was like my tongue was sliced off from my mouth, and my throat was completely dry._

" _Kurome… take the sword…" She ordered, but I didn't comply. I had no reason to take it away from her. Besides, I wasn't a fan of swords at all. "This world… is already… doomed…"_

 _I really, really wanted to voice out my thoughts, but I couldn't._

" _With this… I know… you could s- the… -… from… other… d-…"_

 _I didn't quite get what she said, but I knew that she was asking me for a favor, and what she was asking me to do. She'd never give this sword up if it wasn't for_ _ **that**_ _. And of course, I wasn't going to turn her down. She's a friend of mine, and I'd never betray her._

 _With that said, I deliberately took the sword. I wasn't able to touch it at first, but using a bit of my powers, I was able to alter its characteristics and made it tangible for me. As I grabbed the sword, it disappeared from my hand. Well, my own way of hiding things._

" _Thank… you… Kurome…"_

 _After that, her body started to disappear into thin air. I just stood there and stared at the chair she used to sit on as she disappeared completely. I just stared at that chair for goddess knew how long._

"…"

 _It hurt._

 _It hurt._

 _It hurt._

 _Why? Because it was_ _ **her.**_ _She did nothing wrong. She did what she thought was right; what she thought was the best. She didn't deserve any of this._

 _Yes, she didn't._

 _And it hurt._

 _I clenched my fists tightly. I knew what I had to do. And I'd stop at nothing to see it happen._

" _I promise that I will save you, no matter what."_

 **~o~O~o~**

"…"

A certain midnight blue-haired girl opened her eyes. She was sitting in front of a portal inside an underground cave in Lowee. It had been a few hours since Noire and her friends left to rescue Nepgear.

"That dream again…"

She sighed. She dreamt that dream before, that was why she sounded so troubled.

"What's taking them too long now..." She said and stood up from the ground. She needed to be prepared once they enter Lowee to avoid intruders from the other side. They definitely would experience a rough ride.

 **~o~O~o~**

Planeptune – Underground Cave.

After around half an hour, Noire and her friends arrived at the underground cave. They didn't know it at first, but as they realized that they were inside a very large room which was barely lit, they knew it.

This room was the God of Fire's room.

They inspected the area for any potential threats. They were relieved after doing so and was glad that Kurome was telling them the truth earlier about her cleaning up this place. They got out of the cave after around half an hour, and they ended up in a forest. Nice, clean air, but there was something odd about the atmosphere around them, and each and every one of them felt that.

"Keep your guards up." Noire instructed in a whispering manner.

They slowly traversed through the forest. They kinda had a hard time finding the way out because they weren't really familiar with this place, not even Uni who had been here before once. Well, once wouldn't be enough to be familiarized with anything anyway.

As soon as they found the exit, they immediately ran towards it, but before they could make their exit, Noire's phone rang.

"Wha-?!"

That surprised everyone. Well, because their surroundings were so silent that they could hear their own heartbeats.

"Dammit, Noire. Put that thing out! You're going to get ourselves killed with that!" Blanc screamed silently.

Noire rolled her eyes. That was really exaggerating, but Blanc had a point. She didn't waste time and checked the phone to see who was calling her.

"Histoire…?" Noire was confused as to why Histoire was calling her right now. A lot of questions popped into her mind, but nonetheless, she answered the phone first. "Histoire, what's going on?"

" _Nothing in particular. I finally found my copy of the blueprint of Planeptune's Basilicom. I will guide you when you're inside."_ Histoire said.

After hearing that, everyone's expression lightened up. At the very least, they wouldn't get lost inside and they had a higher chance of not getting spotted.

"That's good to hear, but you could've just called us via our comms." Noire suggested.

" _No. High-profile communications have higher chances of getting tapped. We can't risk that."_ Histoire said. _"Plus, I can't do that with my personal telephone."_

Noire raised an eyebrow. "You have a personal telephone?"

" _Yes. I do. It's a built-in feature of mine, and it can't be intercepted."_ Histoire said. _"It can also be used for interdimensional communications."_

They somehow didn't get what Histoire meant by that, but they didn't bother asking as they had better things to do. The CPUs knew how long Histoire's lectures go, and that was the last thing that they wanted to happen.

"That's cool." Noire just said. "Anyway, we're heading to the Basilicom now. We'll call back once we're near."

" _Alright. Be careful out there and stay under the radar."_ Histoire said and then she ended the call.

The group then resumed their walk towards Planeptune's Basilicom, and in no more than ten minutes, they arrived at the city. They could see lots of people wandering around. It looked normal, but for some reason, Noire found it a little unusual; Marvy as well. To their eyes, they looked…

"…!"

All of a sudden, Noire and Marvy pulled their companions into a nearby alley while covering their mouths. The ones who got pulled protested, but their efforts were futile.

"Sshh! Keep it down!" Noire whispered to them. As soon as Vert, Uni, Blanc, and CC2 calmed down, they were released by Noire and Marvy.

"What the fuck is wrong with you two?!" Blanc whispered.

Noire and Marvy didn't answer and they just peeked through the wall. They could see that something was off from the people wandering around.

"There's something wrong with the people." Marvy said as she pulled herself away from the edge. That answer confused her companions with the exception of Noire, as they didn't really know what she was talking about. "Take a good look."

One by one, they peeked through the wall. Their eyes widened as soon as they realized what really was going on with the citizens. They were walking like zombies; their minds weren't working properly as they didn't even react if they bumped into each other.

"This must be what Uzume was talking about earlier. The people are brainwashed." Vert whispered as she pulled herself away from the wall. "But, how are we going to get past them without getting noticed? We're done before we even started once we get caught by even a single one."

Silence.

They totally didn't have a plan for this one. But they couldn't back down; they had to push forward and rescue Nepgear.

"I'm calling Histoire." Noire said and pulled her phone out. She opened the call logs and called Histoire back. After a few moments, Histoire answered the call.

" _Noire? Did something happen?"_

Noire let out a breath before answering. "No, but we encountered a problem." She said as she peeked through the wall once more. "The people are being controlled. We can't get past through them without getting spotted."

There was silence for a moment. Histoire was thinking for a moment, and Noire knew that. Noire could just hope that it wouldn't take her three days to think for a solution.

" _Where are you right now?"_

Noire looked around to see if there were any noticeable landmarks around because they were in an alleyway, she could hardly see anything worth noticing. And so, she decided to give Histoire whatever she saw as she peeked through the wall once more.

"We… we're several meters away from the entrance of a forest where the underground cave is located… and uhh… there's a building just across the alleyway we're in and it says…" Noire narrowed her eyes as she stared at the said building. "…It says mimistop or something…"

The building was a little bit far from their position, that was why she somehow couldn't read it properly.

" _Oh, you're just outside Virtua Forest."_ Histoire said with a delighted tone. That made Noire sigh in relief as she read the banner of the building from the other side correctly. _"Give me three minutes and I'll find a safe route for you."_

"Please do." Noire said as she lowered her phone down without ending the call. "Three minutes, and we'll have a way." She said in a low voice to her companions as she raised three fingers.

They didn't reply anything and just nodded. Noire kept on lookout in case something happens while the others just leaned on the walls as they waited for Histoire's findings. Though they were feeling a bit anxious already because they were standing by in an enemy territory, nevertheless, they just prepared themselves in case of trouble.

But since three minutes would be like forever if you paid attention to it, Uni decided to ask her sister about something.

"Sis… Can I ask a question…?"

Noire turned to her sister. "What's up, Uni?"

Uni collected herself before asking. She had been meaning to ask this question to her sister in the past three days but she couldn't find the right timing to do so because her sister was quite busy with the rebuilding of Lastation, while she just sat down in the Basilicom and did some indoor works. And the rebuilding was still going on at this point in time.

"Do you know someone that goes by the name of IF? She's an agent of The Guild."

Noire tried to recall if she encountered someone with that name in the past few days, but somehow, she couldn't remember if she did. Or maybe, she never met this person at all.

"Uh, I'm not sure if I did." Noire said with a troubled look on her face. "What happened though?"

Uni suddenly became nervous. Well, given to what happened three days ago, and what IF was doing, lots of worst ideas came to her mind. "I… I just want to know if she's okay because she helped in defending Lastation before you arrived. I can't contact her via phone either."

Now that didn't look good to Noire at all. She could already guess what could've happened to that person, but she decided not to tell Uni about that yet because she wasn't sure either.

"Alright, I'll tell Histoire to look into it once she comes back."

Uni nodded, but she wasn't relieved at all. Noire just hoped that whatever Uni was feeling wouldn't get in the way later if everything goes down.

After a short while, Noire heard Histoire's voice from the phone. _"I'm back, Noire."_

Noire immediately put her phone beside her ear as she peeked through the wall to observe the people for any unusual movements. "What did you find, Histoire?"

" _You're in luck, Noire."_ Histoire said. That made Noire raise an eyebrow in confusion. _"Get further inside the alleyway you're in, then turn right to the first alley you'll see. At the end of it, there should be a way that will take you down to the sewers that will lead you to the Basilicom's backyard."_

Blanc, who was just beside Noire, heard what Histoire just said. "Sewers, seriously?!"

"Yeah, unless you have a better idea, then we'll go with Histoire's plan." Noire said as she pulled herself away from the wall. That made Blanc shut up as she indeed did not have a better idea.

" _Alright, I'll send you the map of the sewers, since you most likely will not have reception down there."_ Histoire said. _"Give me three minutes. I'm sending the map via Nepgear's PDA."_

"Alright, one more thing Histoire." Noire said.

" _What is it?"_

Noire glanced at Uni before speaking. "Can you look for someone with the name of IF? She's an agent of The Guild. She was last seen in Lastation." She said. "Uni's a little adamant about finding this person."

Histoire didn't reply immediately, but she nonetheless answered Noire's inquiry. _"…Alright, I'll look into it later."_ She then ended the call.

Everyone had this disappointed look on their faces. Firstly, going down the sewers was something they never, ever expected to do. Second, Histoire was doing things too slowly. And lastly, well, the second was the last one.

"So, another three minutes, huh?" Blanc said as she sighed again in disappointment.

Nobody replied to her. All of them were feeling the same way. But they had no choice though, so at the very least, they could put their faith on Histoire. It had been always like that.

"Girls…" Noire said. The group turned to Noire, who was keeping lookout at the edge of the wall. "We need to move."

"What's going on, Noire?" Vert asked.

Noire signaled them to come closer to her. She then let them peek as she stepped away from the wall. As they did so, all of them had the same surprised and panicked look on their faces. The people were marching towards the forest.

"Why are they coming here?! Are we spotted already? And what the hell is that purple cloud around them?!" Blanc asked, but nobody gave her a proper answer.

"This is not the time to be asking questions." Noire said. "All we need to know is that both the people and that thing around them are bad news."

Marvy then slipped away from the wall and reappeared behind Noire. "Can't agree more."

"Let's move! We can't let ourselves get compromised before we even get close to the Basilicom." Noire then ran further into the alleyway, followed by the rest of the group.

They followed the directions Histoire gave them earlier that led them to the entrance of the sewers, but as they arrived there, Histoire still hadn't sent Noire the map underground. Noire then opened the hole and ordered her companions to get inside.

"I'll wait for Histoire's message. The rest of you get inside." Noire said. Marvy and CC2 jumped down first with the idea of checking the area initially if it was safe, but the other CPUs didn't seem to be cool with Noire's plan.

"Don't give me that look." Noire said. "I'll jump down as soon as I receive the map."

They wanted to protest, but it wasn't the right time to do so. "Sis, please be careful." Uni said as she grabbed her sister's hands.

"I will." Noire said as she gripped Uni's hand tighter. "Now, go."

Blanc and Vert didn't say anything else and just jumped down in the sewers. Uni nodded before going in last, though she seriously was still opposed to the idea. Noire then took her phone out and grabbed on the hatch with her other free hand to prepare herself when Histoire finally sends her the map.

Histoire's three-minute time just arrived, but the map still wasn't received by Noire. The CPU was already growing anxious because this was the first time that Histoire didn't manage to do something in her allotted time.

"Damn it, Histoire. What's keeping you…?" She said as she kept her attention on her phone.

After a few seconds, Noire's phone beeped, indicating that she received a mail. At the same time, the purple cloud that was surrounding the citizens was already around Noire without her knowing.

"Wha-?!"

Noire wasted zero time and jumped into the hole as she closed the hatch. There was a loud banging sound as the hatch closed, giving Noire a massive pain in the head due to the intense vibration of sound striking her ears. As soon as the pain was gradually going away, she slid down using the stairs and reached the underground afterward.

"What in the heavens was that sound, Noire?" Vert asked.

Noire didn't reply immediately and just rubbed her temples. "I slipped. Goddess, I feel deaf."

Vert narrowed her eyes as she stared at Noire. She didn't seem to be convinced with her answer. "You slipped?"

"Yeah… when I was trying to step on the ladder. Good thing I still have a grip on the hatch, else I'd fall down straight here with my head first." Noire said. "Anyways, let's get moving." She then took her phone out again and checked the mail that she just received after opening the phone's flashlight. It was the map of the sewers from Histoire. Noire sighed in relief as she saw that because if it was just some random mail, they would be screwed.

Noire took the lead and started to walk towards their destination by following the map. The route they were taking seemed to be fine, but of course, some of them weren't comfortable.

"Smells like shit down here." Blanc said as she covered her nose. Well, they were in the sewers, after all.

"Yeah, but at least it won't kill you." Noire said nonchalantly. "Unlike if we're on the surface."

Blanc was about to retort, but she held herself back. She had no choice but to deal with it, as this was the best option for them. Vert just chuckled silently, but still was noticed by Blanc, and got elbowed by her in the gut.

"There is indeed no reception here…" Noire mumbled as she learned that her phone had no signal.

Noire was feeling a little unsettled as they traversed the sewers. Not because of the possibility that they may encounter a threat, but about something else that she couldn't describe.

" _Ki…-"_

In an instant, Noire stopped in her tracks, in which Blanc didn't notice and bumped into her.

"What the-?! What are you stopping for-?!"

Without saying a word, Noire covered Blanc's mouth to keep her from saying anything.

"Quiet! Did you hear that?" Noire asked. She looked at each of her companions, but the faces they made were the opposite of what she expected. And they just swung their heads.

Noire let go of Blanc afterward.

'What the hell was that…?' Noire thought to herself. Was her mind playing tricks on her because she was overly cautious? She didn't know.

Noire resumed her walk after knowing that her companions didn't hear what she heard. The rest of the group just followed her with a large question mark on top of their heads. Even them would find it weird that only Noire heard something when the sewers were so quiet.

Blanc walked closer to Vert and whispered to her. "What do you think?"

"I don't know." Vert whispered back. "I seriously didn't hear anything."

"Me neither…" Blanc thought that Noire was just hearing things. Well, that was the only conclusion that could be derived from her sudden outburst.

Their journey in the sewers continued in silence. They were totally confused about Noire's actions earlier, but none of them dared to ask her about it since it might've been just a coincidence.

After a while of walking, they arrived at the spot where a ladder would take them behind Planeptune's Basilicom, as based on the map Noire had in her phone. They were relieved that no hostiles got in their way so their cover still wasn't blown. But as soon as Noire was about to turn to her companions.…

" _Ki…-!"_

"…!" Noire froze on the spot, which again confused her companions.

"Please don't tell me that you didn't hear that…" Noire said without looking at her friends. Her hand was shaking, but good thing that the sewers were quite dark and they only had one light source so it wasn't visible to them.

The rest of the group just looked at each other, asking the same question mentally, but only to swing their heads.

"Hear what?" Blanc asked in a slightly irritated tone. Noire's actions could get themselves killed if she was going to be honest with herself. "What the hell are you hearing, Noire?"

Noire didn't say anything and just bit her lips. Now she was sure of it. And no, it wasn't her mind just playing tricks on her. That thing she was hearing; it was real. And only she can hear that.

"…Forget it. Maybe that sound from the hatch still hadn't left my head…" Noire said as she rubbed her temples again and fell on her knees.

Blanc sighed in disappointment. "Come on, Noire. Get your shit together." She said and pulled Noire back up to her feet. "We're just under the Basilicom, so keep your focus."

Noire took a few deep breaths to calm herself down and fortunately, it did help. She just hoped that she wouldn't hear that thing later. Or ever.

"So, who wants to go first?" Blanc asked. Obviously, she didn't want to go first. That was why she asked that question.

Blanc looked at Vert, but she just averted her eyes away from. Then to Marvy, CC2, and Uni, but their reactions were the same as Vert's.

"So… Noire…?" Blanc then reluctantly turned to Noire, who didn't have this amused look on her face.

The ravenette sighed. "Fine. I guess I gotta do everything myself, yeah." She rolled her eyes and then climbed the ladder up.

"Uh, I shouldn't have done that." Blanc felt guilty. Well, they were all guilty as they hadn't done a single thing yet because Noire was the one leading them.

After a short while, Noire slid down from above using the ladder. "We've got some stragglers just near the hatch. We can't get out yet."

"So, we're going to wait for a while in this shithole?" Blanc asked. She totally wasn't satisfied with the idea.

"Yeah. But if you're feeling heroic, you can act as our decoy and get their attention but…" Noire paused for a bit before speaking again. "I'm sure you wouldn't be able to get away from Neptune alive."

Blanc didn't say a word after that. Noire might've acted like that, but she made a strong point. If anything, she was looking out for them.

"Let's take turns on checking the surface." Noire suggested. "We'll switch every ten minutes."

Nobody objected to the idea. That was the least they could do to help Noire. Well, it wasn't really a difficult job, if anything, so they had no excuses to refuse.

"We've got ourselves an idea, then."

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – Basilicom.

Inside the Basilicom's terminal room, Histoire was sitting right under an object that took shape of a power button and was glowing brightly. It was a vital part of the three nation's defenses, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. Histoire didn't particularly need to be there even though she was the one who activated the defense system. She just wanted to be there because she felt at ease whenever she was near that object.

She lost contact with Noire and the others just a few minutes ago after sending the map of Planeptune's sewers. Histoire knew that they already had gone underground. All she needed to do was wait for Noire to contact her so she could assist them in infiltrating the Basilicom.

As she was distracted by her thoughts, the door opened.

"Lady Histoire, I've brought you tea."

Histoire turned to the source of the voice, and saw a short girl with light brown hair, wearing a maid outfit, holding a tray of blended tea.

"Ah, thank you." Histoire said. The maid who just entered put the tea on the table beside Histoire and poured some in a cup. She then served the tea to Histoire. "Mm, this is delicious." Histoire said as she took a sip from her cup.

"I'm glad that it is to your liking." The maid then bowed afterward. "I'm Financier. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask."

Histoire nodded at her. "Will do."

"Well, then. If you'll excuse me…" Financier then exited the room.

Histoire finished her tea in silence. There wasn't much to do for her since Noire wasn't making the call yet.

"Oh yeah, Uzume's request…" All of a sudden, two photos emerged under her, from the tome. Those photos were the one Uzume showed her in the past few days, an image of some sort of console and a controller, and she replicated it.

"Hmm, where should I start…?" She mumbled as she accessed her archives. "I shouldn't search too deep; Noire might call anytime."

Histoire's eyes then glowed with light blue and she went static. She looked like a doll at the moment and was looking straight. But her vision wasn't showing the one where her eyes were directed. From what she could see, she was in a white, open space surrounded by an infinite number of information that came in different forms. Books, papers, notes, events; everything that can be considered information. And they came from the world itself.

"Hmm, since it's a console… I should start there." Histore levitated away from her position. Short while after that, she ended up in a place filled with different images of consoles, originated from all nations in Gamindustri.

She inspected every console showed in front of her but unfortunately, none of it matched with the one she was looking for.

"Hmm, it isn't just a console. It has a different purpose." Histoire mumbled to herself. "I'm not sure if it even exists in this world but, it definitely didn't exist in Uzume's dimension…"

She stepped away from her position.

"…Or it used to exist in her dimension."

Histoire flew back to where she was when she entered this time-space. "There is not enough information. I will need more time to search but I don't have the luxury to do that right now."

With that said, Histoire exited the archives. As she got back to reality, she flew to the terminal computer and opened it. As she did so, she opened a software that allows her to make video calls; the same one she was using whenever she was making a conference with the CPU's.

"Alright, Noire's request is next."

She then looked for The Guild's line number. Since she was in Lowee, she called The Guild's branch in this nation. After finding it, she immediately initiated a video call. As soon as the call was picked up, an image of a certain girl appeared on the big screen. The girl had a long, sky blue hair tied in low pigtails along with a red hat that looked like the one by students during graduation. She had cerulean eyes and were accompanied by a pair of red glasses. She was wearing a white dress under a red, jacket-like coat.

" _Hello, you have reached The Guild's Citizen's Support Hotline."_ The girl on the screen said. _"I'm Nishizawa Mina, a volunteer Support Representative. How may I help you?"_

"Hello, I'm Histoire, and I'm looking for an agent named IF. She was last seen in Lastation." Histoire directly said. "Do you have any contact with her?"

Mina swung her head. _"Ah, I apologize. I won't be able to process your request as of now. The Guild's network is down right now and we have no contact with the other branches outside Lowee."_ She said _. "Do you want me to put it on hold until we restore our network?"_

"Yes, please do."

Mina nodded. _"Alright. I will contact you back once I acquire an information about this agent."_ She said and smiled at Histoire.

"Thank you." Histoire said, but when she was about to end the call, Mina spoke once more.

" _Wait…"_ Histoire turned back to the screen. _"This number you're using…"_

After hearing that, Histoire realized what she just did… or what she forgot to do… or say. "Oh, yes. I'm calling from the Basilicom."

Mina seemed to be surprised with that, even though she knew the number Histoire used. _"O-Oh, I see. Are you perhaps… a friend of… Lady Blanc…?"_

"I'm not sure if that's what between us, but we're in good terms nonetheless."

Mina seemed to be delighted after hearing that as a smile beamed on her lips. _"T-Then, can I ask you a favor? I want to s-see… talk to her, even on this video call only…"_

"Ah, I'm afraid I can't do that yet. She… Blanc went out to… do some business, and she hasn't come back yet." Histoire said, wondering what could this girl want to talk with Blanc. Plus, she can't tell her that Blanc went to Planeptune or else it would cause an uproar in Lowee, and that was the last thing she wanted to happen.

" _Is that so…?"_ Mina suddenly looked dejected.

Histoire sighed. She was questioning herself who was asking for help again, but seeing that girl with a depressed look, Histoire couldn't leave her hanging like that.

"Alright, I'll talk to her once she comes back, but please don't forget my request as well." Histoire said.

With that said, Mina's dejected look disappeared and she cheered up again. _"Y-Yes! I will ask for help from my friends as well to find this agent."_

"You don't really need to go that far but, thank you for that." Histoire said. She wasn't sure if this Mina girl was a huge fan of Blanc, or she really, really needed to see Blanc. But nevertheless, she knew this girl was a good person.

" _It's no problem. You're doing me a favor as well so it's just natural to pay you back in return."_ Mina said as she nodded excitedly. _"Well, I guess that's our wake up call. I'm Nishizawa Mina again, glad to be of help to you."_

"Likewise." Histoire said and then she ended the call.

Well, that was one out of the to-do list.

Now, it was time for her to sit back and wait for Noire's call.

 **~o~O~o~**

Planeptune – Underground Sewers.

It had been around an hour and a half since Noire and her friends arrived in the sewers. They were still taking turns on scouting the surface but so far, nobody had given the go signal yet.

Around that time, it was Marvy's turn as a lookout. She walked up the ladder as the previous lookout climbed down, which was Blanc.

"Ugh, this is frustrating." Blanc said as she leaned on the wall. "It doesn't look like those people are going to move any time."

Nobody replied. Meanwhile, Noire was at the other wall beside the ladder, alone with Uni. Noire was gritting her teeth unconsciously, and Uni saw this as she turned to her.

"Sis, are you alright?"

Noire snapped back as her eyes shot open after hearing Uni's call. "A-Ah? Yeah, I'm fine…"

"Doesn't look like it to me." Uni said as she made a worried look. "You have this sour expression on your face."

Noire was surprised. She didn't actually realize that she was making such face.

"Well, I guess I am getting frustrated with our current situation…" Noire said as she sighed.

Uni didn't reply anything and just stared at her sister. Looking at the front, it did seem like Noire was frustrated. But the way Uni saw her sister didn't look like that. From the way she could see it, there was something going on with her sister, but she didn't know what it was. Her sister wasn't the type to get frustrated easily, after all.

Or was she?

Not too long after that, Marvy dropped down from the ladder. It wasn't even five minutes since she got up, leaving her companions some question marks above their heads.

"The people are dispersing for some unknown reasons." She said. "There are few of them left near the hatch."

The group then readied themselves to move out. All they had to do was wait until the coast was clear.

"Okay, Marvy. Give us a signal once we're good to go." Noire ordered.

"Alright, I'll drop something later as a signal." Marvy said and jumped up back to the hatch.

Finally, they would be able to get out of the sewers. Well, staying underground for more than an hour wasn't really a good experience for them. But of course, that wasn't the end of their struggle; they were just getting started.

Short while after that, a scroll dropped down from above, which fell onto Blanc's head.

"Ow! Damn!" Blanc winced as she rubbed her head. The rest of the group except Noire just chuckled at Blanc's misery. Can that be considered as a misery, though? Well, maybe.

"Alright, move up, you girls." Noire ordered. One by one, they climbed up the ladder, with Uni going second to the last, and Noire being the last one.

Uni was about to climb the ladder when she heard her sister groan a little. She turned to Noire and saw that she was holding her head like she had a great headache.

"Sis… are you okay?" Uni asked.

Noire jolted up as Uni approached her. "A-Ah, yeah. Just a little migraine, don't worry." Noire said. She could just hope that Uni would buy her lie. "Climb up now, I'll follow you."

Uni nodded reluctantly before climbing up the ladder. She was really worried sick about her sister, but she had to focus on their mission. She decided to drop those thoughts for now and just support her sister in any way she can.

After a short while, they got out of the sewers. The underground was a little suffocating so they took this chance to get a good breather.

"Finally out of that hellhole." Blanc said as she took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air around her.

In front of them was Planeptune's Basilicom's backside. No entrance could be found in this area, so they were a little troubled about how they would break in. The front door was not an option, of course. They came in here in stealth; doing that would defeat the purpose.

"Keep on lookout. I'm going to call Histoire." Noire said as she took her phone out and dialed a number. The rest of the group just nodded and abided with her order.

After a few moments, Histoire answered the call. _"Hello, Noire. I assume you made it past the sewers?"_

"Yeah. We're behind Planeptune's Basilicom now." Noire said and looked around her. "But I see no entrance here."

" _Yes, you won't see it."_ Histoire said. _"What I'm about to tell you will sabotage Planeptune's security, so I request that your group will never disclose this information to anyone."_

That didn't really hit Noire. Of course, if Histoire was talking about security, that meant that this passageway was a blind spot; it wasn't included in the Basilicom's blueprint.

"I will never betray your trust Histoire. You have my word." Noire said as she clenched her fist. Histoire had helped them in many ways, and many times. Noire was really grateful to Histoire, and betraying her would be the last thing Noire wanted to do.

Noire heard Histoire sigh from the other side. She didn't know if it was relief or disappointment; she didn't bother asking.

" _Alright, then. Do you see a plant box near the wall?"_

Noire turned to the Basilicom's wall. She saw three plant boxes not too far from their position, just near the building. "I see three of them near the Basilicom."

" _Strange, I could've sworn that there's only one of that."_ Histoire said as she sounded troubled to Noire's ears.

"When was the last time you saw that?" Noire asked.

" _Around a month and a half ago."_ Histoire answered.

Noire facepalmed after hearing that. One and a half months was too long! And seriously, she was living in Planeptune until more or less a week ago and she didn't even bother checking that?

"Come on now, Histoire. That's way back…" Noire said as she sighed in disappointment. Noire then walked to the plant box as she signaled her friends to follow her. "Anyway, do you have anything that will help me identify which is your plant box here? These three are carbon copy of each other."

Histoire was silent for a moment. _"You're misunderstanding me, Noire. That's not an entrance."_

"What? Then how are we supposed to go in?!" Well, if that wasn't an entrance, then what would it be?

" _Noire, if that passage could be opened from the outside, then I am going to get the people inside killed."_ Histoire said. Noire was embarrassed after hearing that. Of course, it WAS an exit. That was the reason why Histoire said that she was going to sabotage Planeptune's security with this. _"You will have to move those plant boxes and see if there's a way that will lead you underground."_

"Alright, we'll figure something out." Noire said.

As Noire was about to end the call, Histoire spoke again. _"Wait."_

Noire placed her phone back to her ear. "What's wrong?"

" _I just want to tell you this beforehand. This passage will take you to Planeptune's Archives. No one is allowed inside aside from the CPUs so you won't have problems stepping in unless Neptune is there, but I highly doubt that she would be there."_

Noire didn't say anything and just put that information in mind.

" _Another thing, Nepgear's room is two levels above the archives, but you will have to pass through the main staircase to get there. You could start looking there."_

"Got it, but I don't get the reason why you're telling me this in advance. I thought you'll guide us inside?" Noire asked.

" _Something just dawned on me when you told me that the people are being controlled."_ Histoire replied with a worried tone on her voice. _"I am not certain of it yet, but I advise that you stay quiet as much as possible when you're inside."_

"That goes without saying." Noire said. "Anyways, thanks for all the help, Histoire. We really appreciate it."

Noire heard Histoire sigh from the other side. This time, it was a sigh of relief. _"Don't mention it. Please come back safe with Nepgear."_

"We will." Noire then ended the call. Her friends were looking at her as she ended the call.

"So, what's the plan?" Blanc asked as soon as Noire hid her phone.

Noire explained to them what she and Histoire talked about through the phone, including the one that they agreed not to disclose to anyone. They seemed to understand what they were going to pull off, but there was one slight problem with it.

"But, destroying these plant boxes will definitely create a very loud noise, right?" CC2 pointed out.

Everyone had gone silent and tried to think of something, except for Uni, who seemed to have an idea already.

"Don't worry, we can use this." Uni then took out something from her pocket. The thing she had on her hand was shaped like a ball and was metallic. Noire asked her what that was, and Uni just answered her directly, "This is a suppressor shield. It will suppress any noise in a certain spherical radius for about ten seconds."

"You're awfully well-prepared, aren't you?" Blanc said as she made an awkward face. It wasn't like she didn't prepare at all; just not at Uni's level of preparation.

Noire chuckled and smirked at Blanc. "She's my sister, after all."

"You don't say." Blanc then crossed her arms. "Where did you even get that thing, Uni?"

"I developed it myself. It's still a prototype, but tested and working." Uni said in a prideful tone and puffed her chest out. Well, the credit all went to her since she was the rightful creator. "Anyways, we can use this to destroy whatever needs to be destroyed without making a noise."

Noire, Vert, and Blanc nodded. They then positioned themselves at each of the plant boxes and readied their weapons. The plan was to destroy these three simultaneously and whichever one will have a passageway to the underground, then that would be their way.

As soon as the three CPUs gave their go signal, Uni threw the object on her hand up and a transparent barrier was deployed around them as it floated. The three CPUs didn't waste any second and immediately smashed the plant boxes in front of them. They were more than surprised that they didn't actually heard a single thing even after they destroyed their objectives.

The ten second time limit arrived and the object Uni just threw dropped down back on her hands. They then observed the objects they just destroyed and saw that the one Noire broke had a staircase that led underground. They just looked at each other without saying anything and nodded before going down.

"It's pitch black here…" Blanc said as soon as they stepped out of the staircase. "Someone get a flashlight."

Noire took the initiative and turned her phone's flashlight on, but as soon as she did so, she saw something… or _someone_ in front of her, and it was…

"…Eeek!" Noire shrieked quietly and then kneeled down, covering her ears and closing her eyes.

Noire's friends were surprised with her sudden shrieking, which made them step back a little.

"Noire, what are you doing?!" Vert asked. She definitely didn't expect Noire to react like that. She found that quite adorable, but she discarded those thoughts instantly as it wasn't the right time for that.

Noire was shaking, but since the place was dark, they couldn't quite see it, but they knew since her voice gave it away. "I-I-In f-front… she… s-s-sham-bles… c-c-crumbling…!"

They couldn't understand what Noire was saying, so Vert took the phone from Noire's hand and lighted the place in front of them, but as soon as she did so, there was nothing unusual in front of them. Just the plain dark corridor.

"There's nothing in there, Noire." Vert said.

"Huh…?" Noire was flabbergasted. She then stood up and looked forward. There was indeed nothing in front of them, but she could've sworn that she saw someone.

Uni was growing worried by the second. Her hunches were gradually becoming the truth. "Sis, are you alright? What did you see?"

Noire was still shaking, and Uni couldn't think of anything to comfort her sister, so she just gave her a light hug. "I… I saw Neptune… in shambles… and her body was… crumbling…"

Everyone's eyes widened as they heard what Noire just said. There was only one thing they commonly had in their mind: Noire was hallucinating, and it definitely wasn't a good thing. They didn't know what caused it, as she was completely fine not too long ago.

What's more, it was Neptune that Noire saw. The way how Noire described Neptune was terrifying and it gave her companions the creeps.

Uni signaled her companions to lead the way as she kept her sister's company.

"…"

So far, nothing had happened yet as they traversed the dark corridors. Noire still wasn't doing good but at the very least, she was starting to calm down.

After a short while of walking, they arrived at yet another staircase, but this one was leading upstairs. They knew that they went the right way since this place didn't have a split passage. Vert took the lead and went upstairs, followed by the rest.

"Hmm?"

Vert noticed that they were on the top already, but there was no door could be seen. Instead, there was a hatch. She pushed it up slightly and checked if there were any people inside. She could see nothing but darkness outside, so she assumed that the coast was clear. She then gently pushed the hatch open and stepped out, followed by her friends. They entered a dark room with lots of shelves filled with several books.

"This is… the archives?" Vert was astonished by what she had seen. Well, if anything, they were all surprised by the vast amount of information that could be found in a single room.

"This is it." Blanc said as she looked at the shelves. "But this is not the time to be admiring these books. We need to find Nepgear and get out of here quick."

Nobody objected Blanc and they started to look for the exit. The archive was quite big, and the shelves made it like a maze, so they had a hard time looking for the exit as they didn't split up. It was quite dark inside so splitting up would be a bad idea.

After a short while of walking, they found the exit. It was also the same moment Noire finally recollected herself and took the front. Uni was glad that her sister was doing okay and followed her.

"Noire, are you okay now?" Vert asked.

Noire took a few deep breaths before replying, "Yeah, I'm fine now. Just a little shaken up earlier." She said.

'Though I can still…' Noire thought as her eyes narrowed down a little.

In any case, she turned to the door and opened it slightly to check the outside. She could see a few guards patrolling the corridors, and slipping out would prove to be a little difficult. Though the guards that she saw were acting strange, she wasn't sure as to what extent. But she was sure of one thing: they weren't going to move anytime.

Noire then gently closed the door and locked it. She turned to her friends and relayed what she just saw outside.

"So, we can assume that getting past them quietly is out of the question?" Blanc asked.

Noire didn't answer her question and instead, she turned to Uni. "Uni, can your sound suppressor be used again?"

Uni just swung her head as a response, implying that her invention couldn't be used again. Noire just bit her lip in frustration, because that meant they had no choice but to go out in the open.

"Any bright ideas?" Vert asked everyone, but nobody seemed to have come up with a plan. "We're going loud, then."

Blanc was about to object, but she held herself back because she didn't have a better idea. If they were going to be discovered anyway, might as well not delay the inevitable.

"I agree with Vert." Noire said as she stood up and transformed. "Vert, Blanc, and I will get their attention. Uni, Marvy, CyberConnect2, you three look for Nepgear."

Vert and Blanc nodded and they transformed as well. CC2 and Marvy agreed to the plan, but Uni seemed to be a little reluctant, but nonetheless went along with it. She didn't need to transform since her weapon wasn't really suitable indoors.

"We will drag the guards' attention upstairs and keep them in there. You have to decide for yourselves when to move." Noire instructed to the three. "If Neptune spots us, we will break our way out of the Basilicom to lure her. That will be your best chance to grab Nepgear and get out as well."

"How are we going to know that you're out of the Basilicom?" Uni asked. She still seemed to be a little opposed to the idea because her sister was putting themselves in danger, but this was for the best.

Noire noticed Uni's worry and just patted her head. "Don't worry, you won't miss it." She said and gave her a reassuring smile. "When you finally have Nepgear, head over to the cave immediately. Don't wait for us."

Uni didn't say anything anymore and just followed her sister's orders. She wouldn't be able to change Noire's mind anyway whatever she would say to her.

"Alright then." Noire then turned to the door and busted it out. The door flew past to the other side and crashed into a window, destroying it. "Time to go berserk!"

At the same instant, Noire, Vert, and Blanc went out of the archives and knocked the guards out.

 **~o~O~o~**

Inside a certain room in Planeptune's Basilicom, Neptune, in her HDD form, was sitting on a chair, staring at her computer's screen. On her screen, an object that took the shape of a sword was displayed. It wasn't just any normal sword. Whichever angle it could be viewed, it looked so ominous.

"…"

Neptune just smirked as she stared at that object. A sword which belonged to _someone_. It seemed like she had plans for that thing, and whatever it was, she herself only knew.

"With this, I'm sure even them wouldn't-"

All of a sudden, she heard a sound of a glass breaking. From the sounds of it, it sounded like a window.

"What was that?" Neptune then stood up. She went out of her room to check what was going on and found out that the guards patrolling outside were gone. It looked like they went down to check what was going on.

Neptune sighed in disappointment. She was about to go back inside the room when she heard another sound of a glass breaking. Second time's not the charm, yeah. She burst the door open and rushed down immediately.

"…"

Neptune was on the fifth floor, and from the sounds of the crash, it came from three levels below. And so, she wasted zero time and immediately headed towards there. As soon as she arrived there, she saw her guards scattered on the ground, unconscious.

She followed the trail of unconscious bodies. Neptune could hear screams as she moved around the corridors, but while doing so, she heard faint footsteps.

"Who's there?"

Neptune turned around, but she saw nobody. She wondered if she was just imagining things, but that wasn't really the time to be worrying about little sounds. She's got better things to worry about.

She ignored whatever was that thing she heard and pushed forward to where the screams were coming from. After a short while, she met three CPUs getting chased down by her guards, but they were getting knocked away as they got close to the CPUs.

"That's enough!" Neptune shouted. At that very instant, her guards stopped moving, with the three other CPUs doing the same. "I was wondering who had the guts to stir trouble in my Basilicom, but who would've thought that it would be you three, Noire, Vert, and Blanc."

Noire, Vert, and Blanc didn't say anything and just stared at Neptune. They were being cautious of her, as far as Neptune was concerned.

"That was really brave of you, despite hiding behind your barriers a few days ago." Neptune said, though it didn't look like it had any effect on them. "Or were you just trying to get back at me?"

After that, the three just looked at each other and nodded. Shortly after that, Blanc threw her axe out of the window, destroying it. They then went out of the Basilicom as Blanc's weapon crashed onto the ground, creating a weak tremor.

"Get back here, you damn cowards!" Neptune then gave chase to them.

 **~o~O~o~**

"Phew, we're good."

Marvy, Uni, and CC2 went out of a certain room. They were hiding because Neptune just passed by them, and getting spotted by her was the last thing they wanted to happen. Nepgear's room was located above them. Well, not exactly above them, but the floor above them.

"Let's move." Marvy said as she took the lead to the staircase. After climbing the stairs, they felt the ground shook a little. They looked at each other and nodded. The three shared the same thoughts; Noire, Vert, and Blanc just got out of the Basilicom, and most probably Neptune chased them out already.

"That's our cue." Uni said as they ran through the corridors. Good thing that the floor they were in was devoid of the guards already, so they didn't need to go stealth. After a short while of running, they arrived at a room with "Nepgear" label on it. Uni turned the doorknob, but it didn't move.

"It's locked." She said.

"Let me handle that." Marvy said as she stepped forward. She took out a pin and a needle from her little pouch and pushed them into the keyhole. Uni and CC2 just stepped back and let Marvy do her thing.

After a few moments, the door opened. "It's open." Marvy said as she stood up. One by one, they entered the room, in which they were greeted by a dark area. Marvy closed the door gently, and as she did so, she noticed the drastic change in atmosphere, but she wasn't sure what it was.

"Anyone got a flashlight?" Uni whispered, though nobody replied. The next thing she knew was the room was suddenly lit by the lightbulb on the ceiling, which freaked her out. "Wha-?!"

Before Uni could scream, CC2 covered her mouth. Uni was confused as to why CC2 was doing that to her, but after taking a good look around her, she finally calmed down, and CC2 let go of her as well.

"Nepgear…"

Uni saw Nepgear sleeping on the bed just beside the curtains. It was also that time that Marvy finally realized what was with this room.

"I see; this room is soundproof." Marvy said. "That's why she's still asleep despite the chaos outside."

But Uni had a different impression. "No, I think she passed out or something." Uni said. "Look, she's not using her sheets, and her position seems a little painful."

"Oh, now that you mentioned it, yeah. It does look like she passed out." Marvy said. She then walked closer to Nepgear and carefully placed the unconscious girl on her back. "Either way, we got our target, so let's get going."

"How are we going to let the CPUs know that we've got Nepgear already?" CC2 asked.

Uni took out something from her pocket, though it didn't look like Marvy and CC2 had an idea about what that thing was. It was like a gun, but the muzzle was a little bigger.

"I'll take care of it."

 **~o~O~o~**

Outside Planeptune's Basilicom, Noire, Vert, and Blanc were gathered, with Neptune floating in midair in front of them. Not only that, the three CPUs were surrounded by countless clones of Neptune.

"Where the fuck did they come from…?" Blanc whispered. Sadly, her question wasn't answered, as Vert and Noire were busy keeping their guards up in case the clones would attack, but fortunately, none of them made a single move.

Neptune descended from midair. Now that Noire had a good look on Neptune, she seemed to be a little different compared to her clones. Her suit was the dissimilar one, though if viewed from afar, it wouldn't be noticeable.

As soon as Neptune set foot on the ground, "Tell me, what's your purpose here?"

Blanc was about to say something, but Noire held her back by lifting her arm in front of Blanc, and just kept her quiet.

"Oh… I guess you're after this…" Neptune said as she held her katana with her two hands. All of a sudden, the blade split into two without detaching itself, and then a long, dark purple beam blade appeared between it.

The three CPUs' eyes widened as they saw what happened to Neptune's weapon. It might've looked different, but they knew it was _that_ sword.

It was the _sword_ that Nepgear once held.

"O-Oi… isn't that…?!" Blanc felt nervous all of a sudden. Either way, Noire and Vert did as well the moment they saw that thing.

"There's no mistaking it…" Noire said as she bit her lip. Their lives were in danger already, now that Neptune was in possession of _that thing_.

"I don't know the name of it but…" Vert gulped. "…That's definitely the sword Nepgear had."

Neptune seemed to be surprised to know that they knew about Nepgear's sword.

"Oh? You're aware of it, I see." Neptune smirked. "Don't worry, I didn't steal this from Nepgear. I just replicated its properties."

But that wasn't the point, and the three CPUs didn't give a damn about that. Though Noire wondered how Neptune managed to replicate something like a curse.

"It wasn't easy, of course." Neptune said as she swung her blade around. "But no need to go into details…" After that, Neptune took a battle stance, which alerted the three CPUs.

"Because you're going to die today."

In a heartbeat, Neptune disappeared and reappeared in front of Noire, and delivered a downward slash. Noire managed to block it with her weapon raised in front of her, though she was gradually feeling weak, not sure if it was because of Neptune's blade being near to her, or _some_ other reason. She didn't know what it was, though.

The clones then started to attack as well. Blanc and Vert intercepted them and protected Noire.

"…!"

Noire pushed Neptune's weapon away. She tried to deliver a counterattack, but Neptune parried it easily. They then exchanged blows to each other, with the results of just parrying each other's attacks.

On the other hand, Blanc and Vert were busy repelling the clones, but they just kept on coming. They wouldn't last another minute if this kept going on, but their escape moment was nowhere to be found. Noire couldn't catch Neptune off-guard.

But all of a sudden, they heard a faint sound from afar. And at the same time, Noire saw a yellow flare coming from the other side of the Basilicom, from afar. She had no idea what that was, but she knew who did that. And again, at that same moment, Neptune's movements suddenly stopped and then she turned around.

"Nepgear…!"

As soon as Noire saw Neptune's actions and heard what she said, she immediately delivered a downward slash, in which Neptune barely blocked by swiftly twisting her body.

"Blanc! Vert!" Noire called. "We're moving!" She then applied a heavier force on her sword and pushed Neptune away. The Planeptune CPU was pushed back and crashed onto her Basilicom, giving Noire, Vert, and Blanc an opening to escape.

"Let's go!" Vert then summoned multiple spears from the sky and it rained upon the Neptune clones. Some of them managed to evade the spears, but some got impaled to the ground.

The three CPUs then escaped the scene and headed towards the underground cave. Even if they didn't know exactly where that was, flying up in a high altitude helped them locate the forest where it was.

But short while after that, Neptune was already chasing them, with an army of her clones behind her. She was a little far but she would catch Noire and the others if they stopped or slowed their pace.

"What now, Noire?" Blanc asked as she glanced behind them.

"…" Noire gritted her teeth as she could feel her head spinning. She started to hear things that she heard earlier back in the sewers, but fortunately still heard Blanc's question. "…Just keep moving." Noire said as she increased her flight speed, with Blanc and Vert following her example.

Shortly, they spotted the entrance to the underground cave they exited earlier, and saw Uni, Marvy, and an unconscious Nepgear on CC2's back. The three CPUs sped up and regrouped with them.

"Go! Stop standing there!" Noire ordered as she landed in front of them.

The group then entered the cave, and as soon as Noire stepped inside…

"…Ngh…!"

Her vision suddenly went into disarray, and she started hearing lots of voices which made her stop in her tracks.

" _ **Kill!"**_

" _ **Kill them…!"**_

" _ **Destroy…!"**_

" _ **Massacre…!"**_

" _ **Murder…!"**_

" _ **KILL…!"**_

Noire fell on her knees and inevitably let go of her weapon as she groaned and covered her head. Her actions were noticed by the others which stopped them from progressing further inside the cave and went back to her.

"Sis, what are you doing?!" Uni called as she approached her sister. "Sis, we need to-" She was interrupted because…

"AAAHHH!"

Noire instantly picked her sword up and attempted to slash Uni in half, but she failed in doing so as Blanc managed to pull Uni back before the blade could slice her up.

"Noire, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" Blanc asked as she held Uni. Noire's body was emitting a dark purple aura, and Blanc couldn't see it as a good one.

Noire was groaning while gripping her head tightly and randomly slashing the air around her. "Just… go…!" Noire ordered. It seemed like she was losing control of herself. "Don't… let go… of Nepgear…!"

"Sis… Sis…!" Uni tried to break free from Blanc's clutches but she failed as the CPU's strength was far greater than hers. Her tears were already falling from her eyes as she tried to reach her sister, but she failed in doing so.

"Go… GO…!" Noire shouted as she flew out of the cave, not giving her friends a chance to stop her as shortly after she went out, multiple giant swords dropped down on the entrance, completely blocking it.

"Sis…! SIS…!"

"Come on, let's go!" Vert ordered as she started to move away. The others followed her while Uni was still protesting. "Noire knows what she's doing, so she'll be fine!"

"Let go of me! Sis is still out-!" Uni was then knocked out by Blanc by hitting her nape. The CPU candidate then fell unconscious in Blanc's arms.

They continued to move towards the God of Fire's room. None of them had a pleasant expression on their faces; not when knowing what Noire just did. Even though Vert said that Noire would be fine, this was Neptune they were talking about. While Noire was able to stand her ground against Neptune earlier, it wouldn't be the same when the clones were included.

"Why do you think Lady Noire did that…?" Marvy asked.

Nobody answered her question, but it seemed like Vert had an idea as she bit her lip.

"…Let's just go back first. Now's not the time and place to have a discussion." Vert said as she sped up, taking the lead. Blanc knew that Vert had known something, but she decided not to ask her about it for now, as it was indeed not the right time and place to talk.

 **~o~O~o~**

After a few minutes, they arrived at the God of Fire's room. They entered the room without second thoughts and found out that the portal was still intact. Nobody said a word and just entered the portal.

"…"

Their journey back to Uzume's dimension was silent, as none of them dared to engage a conversation. As soon as they arrived at their destination, Uzume was there, standing in front of the portal's exit. Uzume inspected them and found out that Nepgear was with them, as she was on CC2's back, but also noticed that they weren't complete.

"…Where's Noire?" Uzume asked.

Nobody answered Uzume's question and just averted their eyes away from her.

Uzume clenched her fists, as she had a thought or two about what happened to Noire, but she wanted to know it from them directly. "…Tell me what happened when we get back to the Basilicom." She then started to walk away from them.

Vert and the others didn't say anything and just followed Uzume's tracks. This place wasn't the right place for any conversation, after all.

"…"

On their way back, Uzume's fists were curled all the time, and she was biting her lips constantly. She definitely didn't like how things were going for them.

* * *

 **Alright, that's the 10** **th** **chapter!**

 **Sorry guys again if it took so long. I won't give any excuses now, you know me. It's really hard to deal with writer's block and procrastination at the same time, which makes me end up playing Honkai Impact 3 all the time.**

 **Anyways, this chapter should've been longer, but I decided to cut it here and put the next part on the next chapter so I can easily continue it. The intro of a chapter is the hardest to write, after all.**

 **So, what do you think guys? Leave your comments/questions/violent reactions in your mighty whooping reviews!**

 **Again and again, the fic is nearing its end! Just two or three more chapters I think. This is the longest fic that I've ever written in my entire seven years on the site.**

 **Until next time, see ya guys!**


	11. Distress

**Hello guys! Eraviel here again. It's time for chapter 11!**

 **I've got nothing to say more other than my gratitude to my readers and supporters! You guys are the best!**

 **In any case, the fic is nearing the end! I won't say how many chapters left anymore since that could change, hehe.**

 **You guys already know why I still use Kurome's name as Uzume, right? I hope you don't get confused with that.**

 **Anyways, answering your questions:**

 **To Jerzu: Nah, Next forms won't be included. Shares enough won't be able to trigger it, and something that matches the Gold Third's powers will be needed, which I have no idea where to start with that.**

 **To Ge4r: Well, Nep's weakness is indeed eggplants, but y'know, it'll be anti-climactic if that would be the deus ex machina at the end xD It's okay if you haven't found it yet, you'll know it at the epilogue. The hints will still continue to pop out, though.**

 **I don't quite remember the events in Re;Birth 1, so if there's a mistake in my reference, please point it out so I can fix it immediately. It's been three years since the last time I played Re;Birth 1, after all xD**

 **Onto the chapter now, enjoy!**

* * *

Lowee – Basilicom.

After around an hour, Vert, Blanc, and the others arrived at the Basilicom from the underground cave. None of them had a pleasant expression on their faces, despite accomplishing their mission of bringing Nepgear back.

Because someone was missing.

The group didn't waste any more time and went inside the Basilicom. The staff saw them and noticed that they had the Planeptune CPU with them, and an unconscious Uni. They tried to ask them why they had Nepgear with them, but Vert and the others didn't say anything and just headed upstairs, straight to where the terminal room was.

As they entered the terminal room, they found Histoire inside, in front of a computer. She seemed to be reading some article of sorts, but Vert and the others didn't particularly care about it.

"We're back…" Vert said.

Histoire immediately turned to them. The first thing she noticed was Nepgear was with them, and was glad to see that.

"I'm glad that Nepgear is safe…" Histoire sighed in relief, but then, she also noticed that Uni was unconscious. "What happened to Uni?"

"She's just unconscious, no major injuries." Blanc said. They then put Nepgear and Uni on a comfortable place in the room to let them rest.

Histoire nodded, but short while after that, she noticed that they weren't complete. They were missing one person. "Where's Noire…?"

As Histoire asked that question, all eyes averted from her. That made Histoire think of a worst case scenario.

"Tell us what happened." Uzume said as she walked beside Histoire. "I want to know what happened to Noire."

Vert was about to talk, but Blanc held her back, and she stepped forward instead. She relayed to her everything that they did and encountered, up until to the point that they had no choice but to create a distraction to get Nepgear, and to the point that Neptune herself showed up. Blanc also told them about Noire's sudden weird actions, including the one when she was hearing things, and the thing that she hallucinated.

"So, Noire started to act strange after you enter the sewers?" Uzume asked.

Blanc nodded.

"And before that, she was waiting for Histoire's message on the surface, alone, when you noticed that the citizens were heading your way, along with that dark purple cloud thing that you saw?"

Blanc nodded again.

With that information, Uzume pieced everything so easily. Like, it really was simple to know what happened to Noire that time.

"I see now." Uzume mumbled. "Noire got caught by that dark purple cloud thing you mentioned."

As she said that, Vert clicked her tongue. "I knew it."

"You knew it?" Blanc asked as she turned to Vert.

"Yeah, I already have a hunch that Noire must've got caught by that thing." Vert said as she nodded at Blanc. "With that thing manipulating the citizens, it must've been doing the same to Noire, but she wasn't giving in easily."

With that explanation of hers, Uzume seemed to agree with it. "Yeah, that is indeed the case, but right now, what we need to worry about isn't Noire, but Nepgear."

The girls didn't seem to get what she was trying to say.

"We can assume that Nepgear might be getting influenced by Neptune as well… or already influenced by her." Uzume said. They seemed to have finally understood what she just said, but also, they turned to Nepgear in panic. They sighed in relief as they saw her still lying down beside Uni.

"So, what's the plan?" Vert asked.

Uzume walked towards Nepgear, and the others followed her. "Take her into a secluded area, but don't make it look like a prison or cage." Kurome ordered. "I will be back when she wakes up." She was then covered by a dark red mist and suddenly disappeared.

"Well, you heard the lady." Vert said. "Do you have anything like what Uzume said, Blanc?"

Blanc nodded after thinking for a while. "I think I do. Follow me."

 **~o~O~o~**

" _ **Kill…!"**_

" _ **Destroy…!"**_

" _ **Murder…!"**_

" _ **Betray…!"**_

" _ **Hate them…!"**_

" _ **Kill them…!"**_

" _Ngh…!"_

 _My body hurts. My head hurts. My mind hurts. My whole being hurts._

 _Stop._

 _Stop._

 _STOP!_

" _Ugh…"_

 _I fell down on the ground. I had no idea what was going on. My body stopped functioning the way I wanted it to, like I… was… no longer…_

" _You still won't give in, Noire…?"_

 _I heard a voice. I tried to look for the source, but my vision wasn't working properly. Everything around me was blurry, though I knew that that voice was near._

" _Well, then. Since you won't give in that easily, you might as well…"_

 _No._

 _Please no._

 _NO!_

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!"_

 _I… had no… -… happened…_

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – Basilicom.

Inside a certain room in the Basilicom, a young girl with raven-colored hair woke up. Despite just waking up, she certainly didn't feel well whatsoever.

Why so?

Just a few hours ago, she was on a mission. On their way back, her sister stayed behind so they could escape from their enemy, who was none other than the CPU of Planeptune, Neptune. Knowing what Neptune could do, her sister's chances of survival were low.

"Sis…"

Even with those odds, she still hoped that her sister would survive. Her sister was strong; she wouldn't go down that easily. That was what she always believed, and nothing could ever sway her belief.

"…"

She realized that she wasn't in her room, as the room she was in wasn't familiar with her. She searched for an exit, and found a door on the other side of the room. Without wasting any second, Uni walked towards it and went outside the room.

"Ah…"

As she got out, she learned where she was.

"I'm in Lowee…"

Yes, she was in Lowee, specifically in the Basilicom. She wondered when did she arrive here, since on their way back, she lost consciousness. She had no recollection of anything after that.

"…"

She discarded those thoughts and headed to where Histoire was. There was only one place where Histoire could be in, and that was her destination. After a few moments of walking, she arrived at a room with a power button symbol on its door. She knocked twice before opening the door.

"Histoire…?"

Uni peeked inside, and saw Histoire in front of a computer, seemingly talking to someone. She then walked closer towards Histoire. "Histoire?"

Histoire didn't reply and just gestured Uni to wait a bit. Uni understood that and waited for Histoire to be finished with her conversation with someone on the computer.

"Okay, Blanc just came back. She was very tired and went to sleep, so I didn't bother her earlier, but I'll try to talk to her later when she wakes up." Histoire said. "I'll be expecting from you too soon."

Histoire ended the conversation as the person showed in the computer disappeared. She then turned to Uni, who was standing beside her. "You're awake, Uni. How do you feel?"

"I'm fine, no worries." Uni said as she gave Histoire a thumbs up. "More importantly, who were you talking to earlier?"

"Oh, it's someone from The Guild." Histoire said. "I was trying to find any leads about that person you were looking for, but The Guild's network is still restoring their network, so they can't contact anyone outside Lowee."

Uni made an "Ah" expression. Well, judging from the damage that the three nations suffered three days ago, especially in Lastation, it wouldn't be so surprising that their network would be damaged as well. Also, she didn't try to ask the thing about Blanc, since it wasn't her business anymore.

"I see. Well, I need to go back to Lastation for now. Might as well look for her there myself." Uni said.

Histoire just nodded at Uni, but she seemed to be a little opposed with her decision. "Don't you want to wait for Nepgear to wake up?"

"I don't need to; I'll just come back if she does. No promises though." Uni said without hesitation as she turned around and headed for the door. "I'll see you later, Histoire." She then exited the room.

Histoire was left speechless in the room. She might not understand how Uni was feeling, but she knew why she was like that. She didn't want to assume anything, but Uni lost her sister, because of Nepgear. They 'rescued' Nepgear, or whatever they want to call that, at the price of losing Noire.

"…"

Histoire just hoped that Noire would find a way to escape Neptune's grips. But if there was even a percent of chance that Noire would fail to escape, her death would be the number one on Histoire's list of expectations. This was Neptune they were talking about, who almost killed Blanc before.

"Goddess… please be safe, Noire…"

All Histoire could do was continuously pray for Noire's safety and return.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – Nighttime.

In a certain room in the Basilicom, Blanc just woke up on a bed. Her bed, specifically. She was alone in the room, with her desk lamp only lit, making the room a little dim.

"…"

She stretched her arms upward. It was really a bad thing for her to sleep on the afternoon and wake up on the evening, as she'd just sleep again sooner or later. It happened to her before.

"…"

She heard a growling sound. It came from her stomach, and she realized that she hadn't eaten anything ever since she got back here.

"Ugh, I hope there's something to eat here…"

Alas, she searched her room, but no food was found. After learning that she had nothing to eat here, she decided to go out of the room and head for the kitchen. It was already past seven in the evening, and Blanc was hoping that there was still something to eat there.

But as soon as she arrived in the kitchen, none of her maids were there. But there was someone using the kitchen, and she well knew who that person was.

"You're still here, Vert?" Blanc asked.

Yes, it was Vert, the CPU of Leanbox, who was using the kitchen. As for the reason why…

"Oh, Blanc, you're awake." Vert said as she signaled her to come over. "I thought that I should make something for you, since you haven't eaten anything yet since morning."

Blanc appreciated the thought, but of course, that wasn't the one she was talking about. "Well, yeah, but I'm asking why haven't you returned to Leanbox yet."

"Come on, Blanc, you know the reason why." Vert said in a playful tone as she lightly grinned at Blanc.

"If you're going to say that you're staying here because you wanted to eat breakfast here every day, I'm going to kick you out this instant." Blanc said.

Vert froze a little.

"W-Well, that's not quite the reason…" Vert said as she whistled, but failed miserably.

Blanc sighed. Despite she knew Vert's personal intentions, she also knew the reason why she was still here. "I know, you wanted to be here when Nepgear wakes up."

"Y-You got me…" Vert chuckled nervously. Well, that idea did cross her mind, but that wasn't really her purpose here. It was actually the former one.

In any case, it went well, so Vert didn't complain.

"Not that I mind but, don't you have work to do?" Blanc asked.

Vert went back to her cooking and smiled unconsciously. "Ah, I've got someone I trust who's really good at it, so there's nothing to worry about."

Blanc didn't say anything and just waited for Vert to finish her cooking. If she were going to be honest with herself, she did not expect Vert to be a cook. Well, if she could cook good food, then no discussion would be needed.

Shortly after that, Vert turned the stove off brought the food to Blanc, who was sitting at a table near the kitchen. Blanc's eyes widened as she saw the food served in front of her.

"Wow, I didn't expect this." Blanc said. In front of her were two dishes; one was a chicken teriyaki with green beans, but not just a simple one. The aroma of the sauce was tingling Blanc's nose, and it was designed beautifully as there was a leaf at the side of the chicken in which she had no idea what that was. The second dish was a balanced diet one; meat, potatoes, carrots, and green beans were cooked in tomato sauce. And also, they were paired with fried rice mixed with bits of carrots and minced meat.

"Well, dig in, Blanc." Vert said as she sat down on the opposite side of Blanc.

Blanc was surprised. She was about to take a spoonful when she noticed that Vert didn't have a plate with her.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Blanc asked.

Vert swung her head. "Ah, don't mind me. I'm not hungry."

"Come on, it's your cooking. At least get a taste of it." Blanc then offered a spoonful of her food towards Vert's mouth.

"Blanc, you…" Vert was getting embarrassed by this. Well, Blanc was trying to feed her, and no one had ever done that to her before. Well, _someone_ did try.

Blanc didn't back down though. "Say 'aah'."

Vert surrendered and opened her mouth. Blanc then pushed the spoon into Vert's mouth and let her chew on the food.

"So, how was it?" Blanc asked.

Vert swallowed the food after getting a good taste of it. "You should give it a try yourself." She said and smiled at Blanc.

"Alright then." Blanc said as she took a spoonful of her food. She didn't have any second thoughts since Vert tasted it first, so she knew that the food was safe. Safe, as in, it tasted good, not poisonous or anything like that.

As Blanc managed to get a taste of the food, her expression softened. "Not bad. I'll give you that."

"Aww, I know there's more to that." Vert mused.

"You ain't getting anything from me anymore." Blanc said and dug in her food again. "Go get your own plate. I can't finish all this food by myself."

Vert just chuckled as she stood up from her chair and went to the kitchen to get her own plate, much to Blanc's disbelief.

It was a good dinner though, so Blanc didn't complain.

"Thanks for the food." They both said as they finished their food. Vert then tried to take their plates, but Blanc stopped her by grabbing onto Vert's arm.

"Wait, let me handle that."

But Vert didn't let go of the plates and just touched Blanc's hand. "Let me handle this. Histoire wants to talk to you, so you better go see her now."

Blanc raised an eyebrow, but Vert just gave her a smile, so she gave up and let go of Vert's arm.

"She's in the terminal room." Vert said and took the plates to the kitchen. Blanc didn't say anything in return and just headed to the terminal room.

As soon as Blanc arrived at her destination, she didn't think twice and headed inside the terminal room. She saw Histoire sitting in front of a computer, reading something on the screen.

"Histoire?" Blanc called.

Histoire minimized whatever she was reading and turned to Blanc as she heard her call her name. "Oh, good evening, Blanc. You're awake."

"Yeah, good evening. Though I would sleep again later." Blanc said with a tone of disbelief. "I didn't see Uni anywhere. Did she go back to Lastation?"

Histoire nodded. "Yes. She looked very depressed, despite her putting a strong act. She also sounded angry when I mentioned Nepgear."

"Of course, she would be… given what happened to Noire." Blanc said as she sighed. She just hoped that Uni wouldn't do something reckless that would endanger Lastation or any of the nations. She might be Noire's sister, but her mind wasn't operating the same way as Noire's.

"How about Marvy and Cyberconnect2?"

"Ah, they left earlier. They were staying in an inn not too far from the Basilicom." Histoire said.

Blanc seemed to be a little troubled with that. "They could've stayed here, but I guess they have their own reasons for not doing that…" She said. "Anyway, Vert told me that you wanted to talk. What's up?"

"Oh, actually, there's someone from The Guild who wants to talk to you." Histoire said.

Blanc raised an eyebrow. "From The Guild…?"

Histoire nodded. "Yes. Her name is Nishizawa Mina."

"Mina, you say?!" Blanc was surprised after hearing that name. Histoire was surprised as well as she didn't expect that kind of reaction from Blanc. From her perspective, it seemed like Blanc knew this Mina person personally. "Call her right now, I'm gonna have a word with her."

"O-Okay…" Histoire nervously said as she turned back to the computer. She then dialed the number she used to contact Mina personally, and after a few seconds, the call was picked up.

" _Good evening, Ms. Histoire."_ Mina then appeared on Histoire's screen. _"I'm sorry, I still haven't got any information about IF."_

Histoire just swung her head. "No, that isn't the reason why I called." Histoire said. "Blanc is here. She wants to talk to you too."

After hearing that, Mina's expression turned into a panicking one. _"E-E-Eh…?! S-She is…?!"_

Blanc then picked Histoire up and placed her beside the monitor. She then sat down in front of the computer and faced the screen.

" _L-L-Lady Blanc…?!"_

Blanc didn't wait for Mina to speak another word. "Mina! Where the hell have you been in these past five years?! You left on such a short notice, saying about you're off to… whatever this thing about becoming a proper Oracle or something!"

" _E-E-Eeek! I'm sorry…!"_

"I don't need your goddess damn apology! The Basilicom was in chaos after you disappeared, and it was hard for me to settle things down alone, you know!"

" _I'm sorry…! I'm sorry…! I'm sorry…!"_ Mina repeatedly bowed.

Histoire was starting to worry about Mina's mental health. "Blanc… give her a break and let her explain herself…"

Blanc sighed. Well, it was too harsh for her to act like that towards Mina. "Alright…" She said. "Why did you leave, Mina?"

Mina then started to talk after apologizing one more time. She relayed everything, everything that she did while she was still working in the Basilicom and after leaving. Blanc sighed multiple times while listening to Mina's story.

"So, let me get this straight." Blanc said after Mina finished her storytelling. "When you were still working here, you feel like weren't doing a proper job, because of your mistakes?"

Mina nodded.

"And then, with that happening, you felt like you're troubling the other staff as well?"

Mina nodded again.

"And finally, after getting fed up with that, you decided to leave the Basilicom to 'train' yourself to be a proper oracle?"

Mina nodded once more.

With that said, Blanc deeply sighed in disappointment. "You idiot!" She shouted. Mina freaked out and curled herself away from the screen.

"You're putting yourself down too much!" Blanc said. Mina slowly returned back near to her monitor as she realized that Blanc wasn't mad with her. "You're not giving yourself enough credit! Did they, or did a single one of the staff even complained about the results you produce?!"

As Blanc asked that question, Mina made an "ah" expression, realizing her own mistake.

"The problem with you is you always try to do things on your own." Blanc said as she sighed again. "We don't do things alone, Mina. That's why me, Financier, and everyone else in the Basilicom is here to help each other out."

Mina was still speechless as she stared at Blanc.

"Heck, even I couldn't do a few things on my own." Blanc said. "And I won't deny that I can't do some things without you."

Mina started to tear up after hearing those words from Blanc, and eventually cried herself out. Blanc panicked as she didn't know why Mina was crying, with Histoire just sighing in relief, much to Blanc's dismay.

" _Thank you, Lady Blanc…! Thank you…!"_

"C-Come on… stop crying…" Blanc said awkwardly. "So… come home here now, alright? I bet everyone will be happy to see you again."

Mina nodded as she wiped her tears. _"Y-Yes…! I'm coming home now…!"_ She said and beamed a smile at Blanc. _"I'll see you and everyone now!"_ Mina then ended the call.

Blanc was flabbergasted for a few moments until what Mina said finally sunk in her head.

"Right now?!" Blanc panicked. "My goodness, can't she wait until tomorrow morning?!"

Histoire chuckled. "She really missed you, Blanc, so you can't blame her." She said.

Blanc sighed. Well, she couldn't deny that she missed Mina as well. The Basilicom became different ever since Mina left. The staff were less cheerful and they didn't have anything else in their mind other than work.

"I guess so." Blanc said as she smiled unconsciously. "Well, then. I'm off to give Mina a surprise, so I'll see you later, Histoire." She then walked to the door.

"I'll see you too later, Blanc." Histoire waved at Blanc before she made her exit.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – city.

In the streets of Lowee, a certain girl with long, sky blue hair under her red graduate hat, wearing a red, long coat, was running as she pulled her bag. She was heading to the direction of the Basilicom, the place she considered home.

Yes, her name was Nishizawa Mina, the so-called 'Oracle' of Lowee.

Just a few minutes earlier, she was having a conversation with Blanc about a very big misunderstanding of hers from way back. And now that it was finally cleared, Blanc told her to come back home in the Basilicom. She didn't think twice either and packed her things up and headed towards there immediately.

"Lady Blanc… everyone… I'm coming home…!"

She ran faster and almost tripped, but she managed to keep her balance. Eventually, she arrived at her destination. She tried to catch her breath as she was almost out of it.

"…"

As her breathing returned to normal, she walked to the entrance. She suddenly felt nervous as she arrived in front of the door. A lot of things played inside her mind about what could happen, but remembering what Blanc said to her earlier, she felt at ease.

At the very least, Blanc's words were never false.

She entered the Basilicom without further ado. As she did so, she was greeted by a dark surroundings. The Basilicom was completely dark; no lights were turned on, resulting in a pitch black area.

"What is…?"

She felt nervous once again. She thought that something must've happened on her way here. But as she was about to pull her phone from her pocket, the place was suddenly lit and she heard popping sounds.

"Wha-?!"

Confetti then fell down on her hat. What she witnessed was something she didn't really expect.

"Welcome back, Mina!"

In front of her were her colleagues, along with Blanc and Financier. They were clapping their hands as they welcomed her back.

"Everyone…"

One by one, her colleagues approached her and gave her a hug as they welcomed her again. They were happy to see Mina back home as they missed her in these past five years.

"Mina."

The staff then gave way to Blanc as they heard her call Mina's name. Blanc then started to walk towards Mina.

"Lady Blanc…" Mina also walked towards Blanc.

The two stopped as they were near each other. Mina was at loss of words, while Blanc just stared at her with a blank expression, but after a short while, it softened.

"Welcome home, Mina." Blanc then opened her arms.

Mina started to cry as she threw herself into Blanc's arms and gave her a hug.

"I'm home, Lady Blanc…!"

Blanc sighed, but it wasn't because of disappointment. "Come on, stop crying now…"

It was that time Mina felt that she wasn't really alone. Her colleagues, and of course Blanc herself, were with her.

 **~o~O~o~**

Around the kitchen in Lowee's Basilicom, Vert could be seen cleaning the kitchen. She was almost done with it, to be specific. And as soon as she was finished with it, she exited the kitchen and headed to the terminal room. She entered the room without knocking as she arrived there and saw Histoire in front of a computer, seemingly reading something, alone.

"Histoire?" Vert called.

Histoire stopped reading and turned to Vert as she heard the call. "Oh, good evening, Vert."

"Good evening as well. Where's Blanc?" Vert asked.

"She went downstairs to give her Oracle a welcome back surprise." Histoire said as she cracked a smile.

Vert raised an eyebrow, not because of what Blanc did, but because of the 'Oracle' thing that Histoire mentioned. "What's an Oracle?"

Histoire swung her head. "I don't know what Blanc meant by that, but it seems like the person who has that title must've been close to her."

Vert's eyes narrowed as she heard that. Someone close to Blanc? Vert could hardly imagine anyone being close to Blanc.

"Is that so…?"

Short while after that, the door opened, and two people entered the room.

"I'm back, Histoire." One of the two people who just entered, said.

Histoire and Vert turned to the door. From there, they saw Blanc, along with a girl with sky blue hair wearing a red graduate hat and a long red coat.

"It's nice to see you personally, Nishizawa Mina." Histoire said as she approached them. "I'm Histoire again, the one guiding Planeptune."

Mina was surprised. One reason was because of Histoire's size, and the other one was her being affiliated with Planeptune.

Before any misunderstanding could pop out, Blanc turned to Mina. "Hold on, Mina. She's not our enemy."

"B-But she said… she's from Planeptune…"

Blanc swung her head. "Yes, she is from Planeptune, but right now, she's our ally." She said. "Histoire helped us establish the barrier we have right now."

Mina turned to Histoire once again. She just received a smile from her.

"If you say so…" Mina said. After that, she noticed Vert, who was a little far behind Histoire. The room was dimly lit so Mina couldn't quite see Vert's face.

Histoire noticed Mina looking at something behind her. She thought that Mina was probably looking at Vert. "Oh, Vert, please come closer." Histoire said as she turned around and signaled Vert to come over.

Vert then approached them. Mina's eyes widened and she gaped in surprise as she saw Vert's face. Being the so-called Oracle of Lowee, of course, she knew Vert's identity.

"Wha-wha-what is the CPU of Leanbox d-doing here…?!"

Vert was surprised to know that Mina knew her. "Oh, you already know me." Vert said. "So, you must be the 'Oracle' of Lowee."

Mina could only nod.

"Your name is Nishizawa Mina, right?" Vert asked as she smiled. Mina nodded again, but she was nervous already. She could see something else behind Vert's smile, and it was nothing but threatening. "It's nice to meet you, _Nishizawa Mina._ "

If Mina was to read between the lines, it would be a completely different greeting. Like, 'don't get near Blanc' or something like that.

"L-L-Likewise…!"

Blanc and Histoire didn't know why Mina was acting nervous towards Vert, when Vert wasn't trying to be scary or anything. Well, they just couldn't see what Mina was seeing from Vert, that's all.

"I'll show you tomorrow about why Vert is here, Mina." Blanc said. "It's really nice to have you back. We really need your help."

Mina nodded. Of course, she was aware of the attack launched by Planeptune to Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. And she would do everything she can to be of help to her CPU.

And yep, to the allies of her CPU as well.

"I'm at your service, Lady Blanc." Mina said.

Blanc smiled at Mina after hearing that response. Additional hands would really be helpful for them in their current situation. "I'm glad to hear that." She said. "I've kept your room clean… well, Financier mostly did, so it's all yours again. You can take your rest for now."

Mina nodded before she made her exit and headed to her room, leaving the three in the terminal room.

"So, Blanc." Histoire spoke right after Mina left. "What's an Oracle?"

Blanc turned to Histoire. "Oh, that? Well, it's like having a second-in-command. She tends to stuff first that needs to be passed to me."

Histoire and Vert didn't really get what she meant by that, and just raised their eyebrows.

"In short, her status is the same as mine when I'm not around, so you can consider her as a Vice CPU or something."

Histoire and Vert made an "Ah" expression. With that explanation, they finally understood what Blanc was talking about.

"So, I'm like her to Nepgear…" Histoire mumbled.

"And Chika's like her to me…" Vert mumbled as well.

"That's one way to say it." Blanc said. "By the way, who's Chika?" She asked as she turned to Vert.

Vert realized that she just spoke her mind out. "Oh, she's the one I told you who can handle my work while I'm here."

"Oh, okay." Blanc said and shrugged. "Anyways, I'm kinda sleepy, so I'm hitting the bed." She then made her exit, leaving Vert and Histoire in the room.

There was silence for a brief moment after Blanc left before Histoire broke it with a question. "How about you, Vert? Don't you need to rest as well?"

"Ah, yeah. I do, but I'm not sleepy yet, so if there's anything you need help with, I'm free here." Vert said.

"Okay, but don't force yourself. You have big stuff to do tomorrow." Histoire said and sighed. "I'm thinking of building a second layer of firewall for our network, so I kind of need some help with the set up."

Vert didn't know why there would be a need for another level of security, but judging Histoire's expression on her face, she thought that Histoire was just being cautious. It was like, she didn't want any failure to happen.

"Alright, I got your back, Histoire."

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Nighttime.

Inside a certain room in Lastation's Basilicom, Uni was lying down on a bed. Her bed, specifically. She arrived home few hours ago, and when she did so, the Basilicom's staff asked why Noire wasn't with her. Uni wasn't really confident about how things would turn out if she said what really happened to Noire, so she came up with an excuse that Noire got separated with them when they went out for an exploration in the north. She also told the staff that Noire already contacted them that she was stranded somewhere as it was snowing heavily like a blizzard so she couldn't come back yet. So far, the staff bought her lie, but she wasn't relieved that they did so.

"…"

Even with what happened, she had to stay strong. For Lastation and its people. Either way, they hadn't confirmed Noire's status yet, so there were still chances that she escaped Neptune's grasp. But of course, the thought of her not escaping scared Uni the most, as different worst-case scenarios played in her mind.

"…"

Uni decided to sleep for the night. She wasn't really expecting that something good would happen when she wakes up.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Morning.

Around six in the morning, Uni woke up from the sounds of knocking on the door. A thought suddenly entered her mind that it could be Noire, and so she immediately rose up from her bed and ran to the door.

"Sis…!" She said as she opened the door, but the person she saw outside her room wasn't her sister.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to be up this early."

In front of her, she saw a blue-eyed girl with short, silver hair, wearing an almost formal black suit with two long tails from the jacket and had blue coloring inside, with also a silver lining and many buttons, paired with shorts. She was also wearing black high socks paired with black shoes with small blue and silver detailing on top. Under her suit was a white button-up shirt paired with light blue necktie, overall making her whole get up being boyish.

"Your knocking woke up me, Kei." Uni replied. "Either way, when did you come back?"

"Just a few moments ago." Kei replied without any gestures.

Yes, that girl's name was Kei. Her full name was Jinguji Kei. As for the reason why she was in front of Uni's door…

"Something happened to Noire, am I right?" Kei directly asked.

Uni froze. Sweat suddenly ran down on her face despite the time being just morning, and the place was a little cold.

All Uni did was gulp in nervousness.

"I'll take that as a yes." Kei said as she crossed her arms. "Me and Noire are always in touch with each other while I'm doing business around the south, but yesterday, she didn't reply to any of my messages, so I rushed back here."

Uni was still speechless. She didn't know what to say to Kei, as Uni knew that no lies would ever get past to Kei. This girl had mastered the field of business, and she would know if the person she was talking to was lying or not with just a glance.

"Let's talk inside." Kei stepped inside Uni's room. Uni didn't even try to stop her and just let her in. "Tell me what happened."

Both of them sat down on the bed. Uni started to talk about what happened yesterday, from the very beginning where they were at Lowee up until the part when Noire stayed behind and covered their escape. Kei's expression didn't change as Uni talked.

"I get the gist of the situation." Kei said as she nodded. "I will stay in the Basilicom and manage Noire's work. You should do what you can and don't hesitate to help the other CPUs if they need you."

Uni didn't like that idea, but she knew that Kei was better at handling things in the Basilicom than she did, so she did not object to the plan.

"Thank you, Kei…" Uni said in a low voice. "To be honest, I really don't know what to do."

Kei stared at Uni blankly, but deep inside, she knew how Uni was feeling. Of course, being separated from Noire must be really hard for her, especially when Noire's status was unknown. Actually, she was feeling the same way, but she was trying not to show it to the CPU candidate.

"That's why I'm here, Uni. I will help as well." Kei said as she patted Uni's head. "So, do you have any plans for today?"

"I… think I'll check and assist on the recovery operations for now. It's been a few days already." Uni said as she stood up from the bed.

Kei smiled. Despite acting so down earlier, she could see that Uni had grown a lot since the last time she saw her. "Alright. I'll be in Noire's office or in the Terminal room if you need anything."

"Thanks again, Kei. It's really great to have you back." Uni said and went to the bathroom, leaving Kei in the room. She didn't even question how Kei knew about the Terminal room, but she just assumed that Kei already knew it because she was keeping in touch with Noire.

Kei just sighed and smiled as Uni left. If she could recall, it was the first time she and Uni had a heart-to-heart conversation. If that was considered one, though.

"Alright, time to work."

Kei then left Uni's room and headed straight to Noire's office. She entered the office immediately as soon as she arrived there and was greeted by the same old room she remembered from way back.

She swung her head and cleared her thoughts. That wasn't really the time to be reminiscing the past, as the situation wasn't really pleasant for them. She had to keep Lastation safe and orderly in Noire's place.

Her work pace was steady, until the clock hit noon, a knock was heard on the door.

"Come in." Kei said as she paused whatever she was doing.

The door opened, and one of the Basilicom staff entered the room, with a folder on his hands.

"Ms. Kei, a report from The Guild."

Kei stood up and walked to the guy who just entered the room. She thanked the staff before taking the folder. The Basilicom staff then excused himself and left the room.

"…"

Kei opened the folder and read the contents. There were several documents inside, along with a micro SD card, most likely the soft copy of the same report. And as she flipped through the pages…

"Oh no…"

Kei then checked the cover of the documents once again. There, the cover was stamped by "Classified" text. She immediately went back to Noire's desk and woke the computer up from sleep. As it did, Kei took the micro SD card and inserted it into the card reader. She then took her phone and dialed a number.

"…"

After a few seconds, the call was picked up. _"Hello, Kei. What's up?"_

"Mina, I found the person you were looking for and… you're not gonna like it."

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – Basilicom.

Around nine in the morning, Blanc woke up in her room, on her bed. She was really dead tired yesterday that she slept twice, but as she woke up this morning, she felt refreshed.

"…"

She slipped out of her bed and headed to the bathroom to take her morning shower. After doing so, she changed into her usual outfit and went out of the room. Her destination was the dining room, and along the way, she met Financier, who was carrying a tray with tea set and snacks on it.

"Ah, Lady Blanc. Good morning." Financier greeted as she bowed. "Your breakfast is ready in the dining room."

"Good morning as well, Financier." Blanc replied. "Thanks for taking care of breakfast."

But Financier swung her head. "Ah, I didn't cook breakfast today. Lady Vert did." She said and beamed a smile. "I still can't believe that she can cook great food!"

Financier seemed to be delighted with Vert's cooking. Most likely because she tasted Vert's cooking personally. She was talking non-stop about it, and Blanc could just smile at her.

"O-Oh, I didn't mean to get carried away!" Financier said as she realized what she had done. "I have to bring this to Lady Histoire and Ms. Mina. I'll excuse myself for now, Lady Blanc…!" She then walked past by Blanc after bowing again and headed to the terminal room.

"Be careful on your way or you might trip yourself." Blanc said. Financier stopped as she looked back at Blanc and nodded.

 **~o~O~o~**

Inside the terminal room in Lowee's Basilicom, Histoire and Mina were sitting down in front of two separate computers. They seem to be working on something, as multiple lines of codes were written in front of their respective screens. Last night, Histoire and Vert were working on improving their network's security, and Mina took Vert's place today to continue the job. They were working quietly, with them only talking when one needs help from the other. The job needed a lot of focus, after all.

While they were working, the door suddenly opened, which made them turn towards it. There, they saw Financier enter the room, with a tray of tea set and snacks.

"Lady Histoire, Ms. Mina, I've brought you tea." Financier said. She then placed the tray on the table near them. Histoire and Mina stopped whatever they were working on and directed their attention to Financier.

"Ah, Financier. Thank you." Mina said as she approached the maid.

Financier bowed at them. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." She then smiled at them. "I do not want to interrupt your work, so I'll excuse myself now." Financier then exited the room.

"Is she always like that?" Histoire asked as she got curious.

Mina smiled weakly. "Not really. She just knows her role and avoids unnecessary actions." She said. "That's why she's the lead maid in the Basilicom."

"Is that so?" Histoire said.

Mina poured tea in the teacups and gave one to Histoire. They had been working for a few hours now and taking a short break shouldn't hurt anyone. Working endlessly wouldn't produce a good result, after all.

And also, it would be a good time for them to have a conversation.

"I'm just curious; how did you and Blanc meet?" Histoire asked as she took a sip on her tea. It was a different blend from the previous one Financier served to her yesterday, but nonetheless, it tasted great.

"Ah, it was a long story." Mina said as she recalled her memories. "I just started college when I first met Blanc."

Now Histoire could see why Mina was wearing that kind of outfit. She could guess that Mina was pretty brainy.

"We met at a certain bookstore. I was trying to get a novel as a reference for my Literature classes, and it just so happened that Blanc noticed my distress and helped me picked one. And surprisingly, she likes to read novels."

"That time, I didn't know that Blanc was our CPU." She said. "She wasn't a student of the college I was attending, but we hang around a lot whenever we see each other at that bookstore. Even though as my years in college passed by, Blanc's appearance never changed a single bit, so I just thought that she couldn't grow anymore."

"When I graduated, I earned the first honor in our batch, and I'm pretty sure Blanc knew that, because when I got home from our graduation, Blanc visited me and offered me a job in the Basilicom." Mina continued. "At first, I thought that she was just joking, since being offered a job in the Basilicom must have a direct invitation from the CPU, and surprise, she transformed into her HDD form right in front of my house."

Histoire chuckled. "That was indeed a direct invitation from the CPU right there."

"Yeah, I didn't expect her to invite me personally. Though I don't know if she was waiting for me to graduate before inviting me." Mina laughed lightly as she remembered that day. "That was when I also realized why her appearance didn't change as years passed by."

Histoire could just smile as Mina continued her storytelling. She could see a different light from Blanc now.

"How about you, Ms. Histoire?" Mina asked. "How did you… uh…" It was that time Mina regretted asking. Well, one reason was Histoire being not human, and the other one being affiliated with Planeptune.

Histoire noticed Mina's hesitation. She decided to be honest with it since she was working with Mina, and to avoid further misunderstanding.

"I was created by the True Goddess to record history of Gamindustri." Histoire said. "…Or so I wanted to say, but that isn't really the purpose why I was created."

Mina gulped. Being told that Histoire's purpose was to record history was already mind blowing to her. And also, about the True Goddess, in which she was somehow familiar with.

"I was a part of the True Goddess' power, separated from her to prevent using her powers for ill will ever again." Histoire said. "She was also the one who created the four CPUs to rule over Gamindustri."

Mina gaped a little in surprise. She wanted to ask something, but she decided not to because it might get answered if Histoire continued her talk.

"This might come as a surprise, but I was one of the two persons who raised the CPUs, being Arfoire the other one."

"Arfoire?!" Mina was surprised. Of course, she was aware of the incident before when Arfoire threatened to destroy Gamindustri. "And you raised the CPU's? Does that mean they knew you already…?"

Histoire swung her head. "They don't have any memories about that, but it doesn't matter." She said.

"But Arfoire raising the CPUs, then wanting to destroy the world…" Whichever angle Mina looked at it, it didn't make any sense. Because if she was the one who raised the CPUs, then the CPUs would have taken her desire to destroy the world as well. But that wasn't the case.

"Arfoire wasn't like that before. She was just a human, with an unusual ability to copy other's powers." Histoire said. "But she desired for more power, so she sealed me and used my abilities to her heart's content."

Mina made an "Ah" expression. Well, it would make sense for someone to have an ability to replicate one's powers to desire for more.

"It was Nepgear who destroyed the seal and defeated Arfoire by… killing her." Histoire bit her lip as she said the words 'killing her'. Of course, she knew the reason why Nepgear chose to kill Arfoire instead of saving her. And that was because…

"That time also, the former CPU of Planeptune, Neptune, or also known as Purple Heart, was already dead."

After hearing that, Mina was surprised more. What Histoire said wasn't the same as the one she knew. "Dead?! Didn't she just go missing for a long time?"

"No, this information isn't disclosed to the public." Histoire said as she swung her head. "Only me, the CPUs, and you, are the ones who know this."

Mina covered her mouth as her eyes widened in surprise. Histoire just told her something that was highly classified, and she didn't know what to do with it. She didn't want to believe it, of course, because Neptune just attacked the three nations not too long ago.

"Why… did you tell me that…?"

Histoire just cracked a smile at Mina. "Because I trust you, Mina. Besides, you won't be able to work with us if you don't know the truth."

"I… see…" Mina still couldn't digest everything she just heard. She didn't even know how the conversation reached this point when she just wanted to ask about Histoire's personal background.

"I'm surprised that Blanc didn't even tell you this even though you're her Oracle." Histoire said as she scratched her cheek.

Mina didn't know how to respond to that. She could only think that Blanc didn't tell her that because there wasn't any reason to, and nothing would change.

"She probably has her reasons…" Mina replied. Histoire somehow agreed with that, as she knew how the CPUs act towards Nepgear. It would be something personal.

There was a silence between them after that. They took a sip from their teacups as it was going cold already. After consuming their respective teas, Mina broke the silence with a question. "I don't know if I should be asking this but… how did the CPU of Planeptune die?"

Histoire bit her lip as she heard that question, which made Mina regret her actions.

"I'm sorry… I-"

But before Mina could finish her sentence, Histoire interrupted her. "No, it's not that." She said as she waved her hand. "You will have to ask Blanc herself about that."

Mina didn't understand why Histoire said those words. It gave her an idea that Blanc had something to do with the death of the CPU of Planeptune. Otherwise, Histoire would've told her already.

"Okay… but…" Mina still had a lot of doubts in her heart. Histoire somehow could guess what Mina was about to say but she decided not to interrupt her for now. "If the former CPU of Planeptune is already dead, then who was that who launched a full-scale attack to all nations? She definitely looked like the CPU of Planeptune."

Histoire closed her eyes. She was dead spot on what Mina was thinking.

"We will know soon." Histoire said as she opened her eyes. Mina didn't really get why Histoire said 'we', but she could assume that Histoire also had no answers for that question. Otherwise again, Histoire would've told her already.

Their conversation ended after that, and shortly, the door opened, with Vert and Blanc entering the room.

"Ah, Lady Blanc, Lady Vert. Good morning." Mina greeted as she approached them.

"Good morning to you two." Blanc and Vert greeted in unison. They looked at each other as they realized what they said, with Mina just chuckling at them.

"Anyway, Mina, do you have a moment?" Blanc asked.

"Well, I, uh…" Mina turned to Histoire. They were working on network security, after all. But Histoire just gave her a smile and a nod, implying that she'd handle the work needed here. "Y-yes, I have some time."

Blanc was pleased to hear that. "Cool. Follow us, we'll show you something." Blanc and Vert then exited the room.

Mina turned to Histoire again and bowed at her as she excused herself. She followed where Blanc and Vert was headed to. After a short while, they entered the elevator and went down a few levels. They already had gone underground as elevator went down past the lower ground floor, though Mina didn't question why and just kept quiet.

After a few moments, the elevator stopped and the door opened. Despite going underground, the looks of the place didn't look like a basement or something like that. It was a normal corridor like on the upper floors, save for the windows missing.

"Let's go." Blanc said as she exited the elevator.

Vert and Mina followed her lead, and eventually, they arrived at a certain door. Blanc opened the door and entered the room, with Vert and Mina behind her. The room was empty; no objects could be seen inside aside from one thing: a window, which showed what was inside the room next to theirs.

"Oh…!" Mina was surprised as she saw the other side of the window. It was a bedroom, a normal one, to be precise. But that wasn't the one that got her attention. On the bed, someone was lying down, unconscious. She fixed her eyeglasses to get a good look at the said person. The person was a girl with lilac hair, wearing a white and purple sailor uniform. Mina didn't recognize her, but somehow, she felt that she had seen this person before.

"Who is she…?" Mina asked. "I could've sworn that I've seen her before…"

Blanc snickered. "Of course, you did. She's the current CPU of Planeptune, Nepgear." She said. "Her HDD form and human form doesn't have that much difference."

Surprisingly, Mina wasn't surprised to hear that. "But… why is she here in Lowee?"

"This is the reason why Vert is here." Blanc said as she faced Mina. "Did you know that the CPU before Nepgear is already dead?"

Mina's heart raced. "Y-Yes… Ms. Histoire told me about Purple Heart earlier…"

Even though she was already aware of it, hearing that from Blanc still made her nervous. There was still a part in her that couldn't accept that, probably.

"Oh, good. That saves me the time to explain." Blanc said and then faced Nepgear. "I know you want to ask about who just attacked us few days ago, because she's definitely Neptune to our eyes. Nepgear holds the answers to everything about that."

"And all we need to do is wait for her to wake up." Vert said as she crossed her arms.

Mina turned back to Nepgear, who was still unconscious in the other room. She didn't bother asking how did Blanc managed to bring Nepgear here.

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Planeptune – Basilicom._

 _Inside a certain room hidden in the Basilicom, a sword was floating in the middle. It was floating with the help of a machine, and it seemed like the said machine was doing something to the sword._

"…"

 _In front of that object, a girl with midnight-blue hair was standing and staring at it. But not too long after that, she grabbed the handle of the sword took it away from the machine. She was glad that no alarms were triggered as she took the sword, but then suddenly…_

"… _!"_

 _Her body was sliced in half, though shortly after, she turned into dark red mist and disappeared._

" _Nice trick you have there."_

 _The midnight-blue haired girl reappeared behind the person who just attacked her. "That's Neptune for you. So sharp."_

 _Yes, the attacker was Neptune, the CPU of Planeptune._

" _Who are you? How did you break in this place?" Neptune asked as she pointed her sword to the midnight blue-haired girl._

" _Me? I'm someone you need not to be concerned of."_

 _Neptune's eyes narrowed as she glared at the said girl. "I don't think so. You're stealing something in my Basilicom."_

 _The midnight blue-haired girl swung her head in disagreement. "No, no, no, I'm not stealing anything." She said as she placed the sword behind her and it disappeared. "I'm simply returning this to its rightful owner."_

 _After that, she disappeared, leaving Neptune alone inside the room._

" _Hmph, I guess it doesn't matter. I have all the data anyway." Neptune said as she dematerialized her weapon._

 _Outside Planeptune's Basilicom, the midnight blue-haired girl was standing on the roof. She was staring at the horizon, seemingly in deep thought._

"… _So, she can sense me as well, huh…?" She mumbled as she crossed her arms. "And Noire isn't here… I wonder where she is…"_

 _Learning that by just staying here wouldn't help her achieve her goals, she decided to leave and disappeared into thin air._

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – Basilicom.

Inside the terminal room, Histoire and Mina could be found working again. Mina got back right after Blanc and Vert explained to her the current situation and their plans in the future. She didn't object and promised that she'd do her best to help.

And that was what she was doing right now. She did that by starting to help Histoire.

Their pacing was steady, until it was almost noon that they decided to take a break as Financier brought them lunch. They were glad that Financier really knew what they needed, and so they thanked her every time they saw her.

"With this pacing, I'm sure we can finish this by nightfall." Histoire said as she started to eat her lunch. "Thanks again, Mina. Without you, I'm not sure if I can finish this alone."

Mina blushed. She hadn't received that much compliment from anyone, and she didn't know what to say back to Histoire. All she could do was laugh awkwardly in embarrassment.

"A-Ah, you're giving me too much credit, Ms. Histoire."

Histoire snickered. She knew that Mina wasn't used to getting a lot of compliments. "I'm just stating what I have in mind."

"Ahahaha…" Mina laughed nervously.

There was a short silence after that, when suddenly, Mina's phone rang.

"Ah, excuse me for a bit." Mina said and took her phone out from her pocket. She then checked who the caller was. There, a name was written in it, namely 'Kei'.

"Hello, Kei. What's up?" Mina said as she picked the call up.

" _Mina, I found the person you were looking for and… you're not gonna like it."_

Mina's eyes widened in surprise and confusion as she heard that. What could have possibly happened?

"What do you mean?" Mina asked.

" _I'll send you the data. It's better if you take a look on it yourself."_ After that, the call ended. Mina was left with a lot of question marks above her head, but all of it were washed away as she received a mail from Kei. She didn't waste a single second and opened it.

"Wha-?!" Mina wasn't able to contain her voice from the surprise she got.

Histoire noticed Mina's sudden outburst. "Mina? What's wrong?" She asked.

"Ms. Histoire…" Mina turned to Histoire, and all of a sudden, she was tearing up, which somehow agitated the girl on the tome. "We found IF, the Guild agent you were looking for and…"

For some reason, Histoire could already guess what Mina was about to say. "And…?"

"She's already dead…" Mina said as she gave her phone to Histoire.

Histoire took the phone and looked at it, and saw an image of a girl with brown hair. Below it, her status was declared KIA, or Killed in Action. Several images then were included in the document; all of it were showing where and how she died.

"…" Histoire didn't know what to say. Maybe she had expected this, or maybe because she could see a lot of Neptune clones included in the image where IF died. But ultimately, she was thinking if she should tell Uni about this or not, as she was pretty sure that another death of someone would be the last thing the Lastation CPU candidate would want to hear.

"Ms. Histoire?" Mina called.

Histoire didn't realize that she was already spacing out, as she freaked out a little as Mina called her.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something else." Histoire said and returned the phone to Mina. "Actually, it wasn't me who was the one looking for her."

Mina raised her eyebrow in confusion. "Eh…?"

"It was the CPU candidate of Lastation, Uni, who was looking for her. I was just assigned to do so because she and the CPUs were in a mission yesterday." Histoire said, but her face suddenly formed a frown. "And something happened to Noire, her sister, and I am not sure if I should tell Uni about this…"

Mina didn't say anything after that. She wasn't sure of what to suggest, anyway. Either way, Uni said that she'd look for IF herself, so Histoire finally decided not to tell her.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation.

It had been four days since the attack happened, and the city was still a wreck, but it was recovering. The people were salvaging whatever they could and use it to rebuild the destroyed structures. And the restoration operations were still going on, with Lastation's CPU candidate, Uni, overseeing it.

"…"

The operations were going smoothly, which relieved Uni. She had been on the field since morning, without any breaks. And of course, she was already feeling exhaustion. It was already around noon time that she decided to take a break.

"Now, where to eat…" Uni said as she looked around. Going back to the Basilicom just to eat lunch and return here immediately would be a little hassle. Since she was near The Guild's Headquarters, she decided to drop by there and eat in the cafeteria.

She arrived at The Guild not more than five minutes. The staff and agents greeted her as she entered the building. Uni greeted back as a sign of acknowledgement as she walked to the cafeteria.

"…"

Uni ordered lunch and brought it to a table. There weren't many people in the cafeteria, mostly because the agents and the staff were too busy on the restoration operations.

"Oh, I have to look for Ms. IF…" Uni remembered as she was eating. And so, she quickly finished her lunch and immediately headed to the Assistance Section.

"Oh, Lady Uni! It's good to see you." A girl in the assistance desk greeted as she saw Uni. "What can I be of service?"

Uni didn't waste any second and got straight to her intentions. "I'm looking for an agent named IF. Is she here?"

As Uni asked that question, the girl's eyes widened, which confused her. Uni was about to ask why the girl looked so surprised, but she was interrupted as the girl herself stood up and walked to Uni.

"Please follow me." The girl said and she started to walk away. Uni followed her to wherever she was headed to, but she suddenly got nervous as she passed through the corridor where the direction of a signboard "Morgue" was pointing at.

"…"

After a short moments of walking, they arrived at a certain door, with a plate "Morgue" written in it. Uni didn't want to believe what she was thinking, but then as they entered the room, her heart stopped for a brief moment.

"What…"

Inside the room, a lot of body bags were laid on the floor. No other people alive other than her and the assistance desk personnel was present in the room, but even so, Uni still refused to believe what her mind was telling her.

That IF was already dead.

They stopped at a certain body bag. There was a tag at the bottom, with a name IF written on it. The personnel just stood beside it and did nothing, implying that she was leaving it to Uni if she wanted to see the body or not.

"…"

But Uni couldn't bring herself to. Even though she didn't want to believe it, she still knew it. And if she wouldn't see it herself, her heart wouldn't find any closure to it, and will drive her insane.

And so, Uni decided to open the bag.

"…!"

Uni's eyes widened as she saw the corpse in the body bag. She definitely recognized that face, that hair, and that outfit.

It was indeed the IF she knew.

"Ms. IF…" Uni mumbled as she stared at IF. She didn't realize that she was already crying the moment she saw the body. Her heart finally gave up and believed what she had to believe.

"IF's body was found in the outskirts… along with multiple dead bodies that looked like the CPU of Planeptune…" The assistance girl said as she embraced herself. "We believe that she died before the barrier was erected, and so… she lost her life in the line of duty. She died protecting Lastation."

Uni's attention never left IF. All she could do was offer IF a prayer that her soul may rest in peace, along with the other people who lost their lives during the attack.

"…"

Uni noticed the body bag beside IF. It had a name tag 'Compa' in it. She didn't try to ask about it and just bit her lip, as surprisingly, she wasn't surprised to see that. Actually, she saw that coming, because IF died the same day when they got information about Compa.

"Lady Uni…?" The assistance girl called.

Uni snapped back from her thoughts as she heard the call. "A-Ah, I'm fine… is what I want to say but… I would be lying if I said that…"

The assistance girl could just frown at Uni. It must've been heart-wrenching Uni to see IF like this, was what the thoughts of the girl. But either way, she waited patiently for her lady to decide to leave, and stayed beside her.

"I'm okay now. Let's go." Uni said as she headed to the door, followed by the assistance girl. She bid goodbye to the girl as they got out and split up.

After learning what happened to IF, Uni wasn't sure if she would be able to work with the restoration operations for the rest of the day. For some reason, she felt very tired, physically and mentally. Well of course, 'losing' her sister yesterday, and learning that her friend died during the attack, that wasn't really good for the mind.

And so, Uni decided to return to the Basilicom and rest to take her mind off things.

"Haahh…" Uni sighed as she flew. She hurried back as she really couldn't keep her posture. She was feeling like she would crash down at any second.

But fortunately, it didn't come down to that, as she arrived at the Basilicom safely. She didn't waste any time and went inside. The staff greeted Uni, with her just waving at them as she hurried upstairs and then straight to her room.

"…"

Uni threw herself on the bed the moment she entered her room, with her face down on a pillow.

"…Haaah…"

She finally let it out. Uni couldn't keep her emotions from flowing out. It was too much for her to bear.

"…"

She gripped on the sheets tightly, almost tearing it apart with her fingers as she groaned. She felt like her heart was about to burst open from the pain she was feeling.

"Why did this have to happen…?!"

A question that Uni kept on mumbling under her cries. She tried to keep her cries down but it was growing loud. It was really hard for her to contain it after what happened recently. No one would be able to.

Outside Uni's room, Kei was leaning beside the door. She was aware of what Uni was up to earlier. She didn't try to talk to Uni as she knew what the CPU candidate just went through. She needed some time and space alone, and Kei knew that.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – Basilicom.

Two days had passed since they recovered Nepgear from Planeptune. Still no news about Noire's whereabouts, as the CPUs weren't really able to perform a search operation while Nepgear was still unconscious. They needed to be there when she wakes up, after all.

So far, the operations in Lowee was still the same. Histoire in the terminal room, still looking for security improvements with Mina. Blanc was working in her office, and Vert… well, she was helping do the cooking and visiting Nepgear from time to time to check up on her.

Currently, Vert was in the kitchen, preparing lunch with Financier and the other maids. Well, it looked like Vert was teaching the maids new recipes, and it seemed like they were pleased with it.

"Financier, I need to do something. I'll be right back." Vert said as she whispered on Financier's ear. Financier didn't reply anything and just nodded at her.

Vert left the kitchen and headed for the elevator. She then went down a few levels below, specifically below the ground. After a short while, the elevator stopped, and Vert went out. She was on the floor where Nepgear was staying. Vert didn't waste any second and headed towards the room beside Nepgear's. As she arrived there, she went inside. She looked into Nepgear's room from the room she was in, and found out that Nepgear wasn't alone.

"Uzume…?"

Yes, the other person inside Nepgear's room was Uzume. She wasn't doing anything; she was just standing and was staring at Nepgear, though Vert had no idea why Uzume was doing that. After a short while, Uzume turned to Vert's direction, which somehow surprised the CPU. The window when viewed inside Nepgear's room shouldn't be transparent, so Uzume shouldn't be able to see Vert from the other side.

But that wasn't the case.

Uzume then walked towards Vert. The CPU was growing anxious about what Uzume was doing. Eventually, Uzume passed through the window, which surprised Vert and made her step back a little.

"Goodness, Uzume, don't do that…" Vert said as she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

Uzume just chuckled at her. "I didn't know that you were the scaredy-type."

"I wasn't scared. I was just surprised." Vert corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." Uzume said as she waved her hands.

Vert narrowed her eyes. She definitely could see that Uzume didn't believe her. Though Vert didn't have the energy to argue with her as she got better things to ask.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Vert asked.

Uzume turned around and looked at Nepgear. "I'll tell you once everyone is here."

"Everyone…?"

Shortly after that, the door opened, with Blanc, Histoire, and Mina entering the room.

"Wow, you're here already, Vert." Blanc said as she saw Vert inside the room. Vert just waved at Blanc as a response. "So, what did you call us here for, Uzume?" Blanc asked.

Uzume raised her right hand. "We're not complete yet."

The other four girls raised their eyebrows in confusion. They had no idea who the other person or people that they were waiting for.

"Who's coming?" Vert asked.

"Uni."

Histoire seemed to have doubts about that. "I don't think she will come here…" She said.

Uzume swung her head as she smirked. "No, she will definitely come."

Histoire didn't say anything afterward. Uzume seemed to be confident with her claims, but Histoire still had doubts that Uni would come here, judging what happened from few days ago. Though her doubts were instantly washed away after five minutes as the door suddenly opened and someone entered the room. Their attention was instantly directed to the newcomer.

"Uni?!" Histoire was surprised. She didn't really expect that Uni will come here. Uni just waved at Histoire as she wasn't really in a good mood, and the girl on the tome could see that.

"Good, everyone's here." Uzume said as she sighed in relief. "The reason I gathered you all here is because…"

Before Uzume could finish her sentence, Uni interjected. "Nepgear is waking up, is that right?"

The rest were surprised with what Uni just said. "How do you know?" Vert asked.

"I didn't." Uni said. "I just took a guess."

That wasn't really convincing, but either way, Uni wasn't trying to convince anyone. But it seemed like her guess was right as Uzume agreed with her.

"What Uni said is true." Uzume said. "Nepgear is indeed waking up."

"Like I asked earlier, how do you know?" Vert asked again. Nobody was giving direct answers, and it somehow irritated Vert.

"I've known Nepgear for longer that you could ever imagine to know that." Uzume said as she smirked at them, though everyone seemed to be creeped out by that.

Uzume sighed. "Well, I couldn't care less of what you think of me, but this isn't the right time for that." She said as she turned back to Nepgear, who was already tossing and turning on the bed. "See that?" Uzume pointed at Nepgear.

The group directed their eyes to Nepgear again, and was surprised that she was rolling on the bed. Uzume walked through the window, which surprised the girls except for Vert.

"W-w-wha-?!" Mina couldn't believe what she just saw. Among all the people inside the room, she was the one who was surprised the most. Well, she didn't know what Uzume was, after all. "W-Who is she…?! And h-h-how did she do that?!"

"Calm down, Mina." Blanc said as she patted Mina's back. "To make it easy to understand, she's someone you can call a ghost."

"A what?!" Mina looked so freaked out after hearing that. Well, this was a ghost they were talking about. It's not every day that you'd encounter one, after all.

And what's more, a ghost that was acting like a normal person.

"That didn't look like she calmed down even a little." Vert commented. If she were going to be honest, it looked like it had gotten worse. "Anyway, just keep it down, please."

After that, Mina silenced herself, though she still couldn't calm herself down from the inside. As the room became quiet, they turned their attention back to Nepgear.

 **~o~O~o~**

Inside the room where Nepgear was sleeping, Uzume was standing beside her. She wasn't doing anything as she just stared at the Planeptune CPU, but shortly after a few moments, she stepped back a bit as she saw Nepgear's eyes open.

"Nepgear…?" Uzume called.

Nepgear didn't move nor respond to Uzume's call for a brief moment. Her eyes then turned to Uzume before sitting up on the bed.

"…Sis…?"

Uzume sighed. "Sorry to disappoint you again, but I'm not your sister."

Nepgear rubbed her eyes and took a good look at Uzume. "…Kurome…?"

"Yes, it's me." Uzume… or Kurome said as she nodded.

Nepgear looked around her. "Where am I…?" She asked.

"That's-"

"Where's my sister, Kurome?" Nepgear asked again.

Kurome went silent after that. She didn't really know how to break to Nepgear about the fact that she wasn't in Planeptune. Moreover, Kurome was somehow thinking that there was something off from Nepgear.

"WHERE IS MY SISTER, KUROME?!" Nepgear's voice grew louder. She then tried to grab Kurome's neck, but she failed as she just passed through her body and ultimately fell down onto the ground. Nepgear stood up and tried to grab Kurome once again, but the results were indifferent.

"Whoa, calm down there, Nepgear!" Kurome said, but Nepgear didn't stop as she just kept on trying to grab her, but to no avail. She kept on wrecking the objects in the room, though.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

Nepgear attempted to grab Kurome once more, but before she could get close, the door suddenly burst open and three people entered the room, namely Uni, Vert, and Blanc, with them immediately restraining Nepgear.

"You…!" Nepgear's expression suddenly turned into an angry one as she saw Vert and Blanc. The Leanbox and Lowee CPUs didn't say anything and just held Nepgear tight to prevent her from breaking free. Nepgear was struggling, but the way they held her made it impossible for her to escape.

Though it seemed like they couldn't keep Nepgear restrained any further. She was too strong as she could almost fling her restrainers away.

"Whatever you're going to do, Uzume, do it fast!" Blanc said as she held Nepgear tighter.

Uzume didn't say anything as a reply and just nodded at Blanc. All of a sudden, her right hand was covered in dark red mist and she pushed it towards Nepgear's chest.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH-!" Nepgear cried as Uzume's hand went inside her heart.

The CPUs held Nepgear tighter as it seemed that she was going wild from the pain she was receiving from whatever Uzume was doing. After a short while, Uzume pulled her hand away, and Nepgear finally calmed down as her cries died down and breathed softly.

"What the hell did you just do, Uzume?" Blanc asked as she had no idea what happened.

But Uzume didn't answer her question as she was just staring at the mist covering her right hand. It disappeared right after she closed her palm. "Nothing you need to be concerned of." She said. "More importantly, how's Nepgear."

The CPUs turned to Nepgear, whose head was lowered down. They could hear quiet sobs, and it was coming from Nepgear herself.

"Nepgear… are you alright…?" Vert asked.

But Nepgear didn't say anything as a reply and just swung her head. Her tears were falling down onto her lap as she cried, and her cries grew a little louder as she muttered something.

"Sis…! Sis…! Sis…!" Nepgear kept on calling her sister as she cried. "…Please… come back…!"

The CPUs then released Nepgear, and she ultimately kneeled on the ground and faced the floor as her cries continued. She kept on calling her sister, and that made Blanc and Vert feel bad inside.

"Would you kindly give me some time alone with Nepgear?" Uzume said as she faced the CPUs. "I'll fill you in later once I learn something."

Blanc and Vert didn't say anything and just left the room, but Uni stayed. She was staring at Nepgear, which looked like she still had some business with her.

"Uni?" Uzume called.

Uni's palms curled into fists. "I'm not done with her."

Uzume was about to say something but she held herself back. She knew what happened to Noire, and Uni might've been holding a grudge towards Nepgear. Well, thinking rationally, it would be normal for Uni to do that. And so, Uzume just let Uni finish her business with Nepgear.

It seemed like Nepgear wouldn't calm down any sooner, as she still was crying on the floor. So what Uni did was she grabbed Nepgear by the shoulder and raised her up. She felt a little bad as she saw Nepgear's crying face, as she could totally feel what Nepgear was feeling. They both lost their sisters, though in Noire's case, it was still unknown.

But Uni steeled herself. This wasn't just about Noire; it was about everything that had happened. They knew that Neptune's return had something to do with Nepgear, after all.

"U-Uni…" Nepgear said between her sobs.

Uni didn't say anything and just slapped Nepgear hard, enough to leave a red mark on the Planeptune CPU's cheek.

"You know what, you can blame my sister and the other CPUs about what happened to your sister for all I care, but at some point, you have to take responsibility for your own goddess damn actions!" Uni then stomped out of the room, leaving Nepgear and Kurome alone.

Nepgear could just touch the cheek where Uni slapped her as she stared at the door.

"What is… going on…?" Nepgear asked.

Uzume walked in front of Nepgear and sat down. "Well, Neptune attacked Lowee, Lastation, and Leanbox few days ago, but the CPUs managed to repel her back."

Nepgear seemed to be surprised with that revelation. "Wait, my sister attacked the three nations? Why?"

"It seems like you weren't aware of what Neptune was doing." Uzume said as her eyes narrowed down a little. "Well, that's just about it. We're in Lowee right now."

Nepgear turned pale after hearing that. Something that big happened while she was out.

"How did I get here…?"

"After the attack, the CPUs decided to get you, as they want to talk to you." Uzume said. "But of course, Neptune didn't want that, so on their way back, Noire stayed behind to fight off Neptune and cover their escape."

Nepgear's eyes widened. "So that's why Uni looked so angry…" She said. It really hurt her when Uni slapped her. Of course, physically it did, but also her heart was hurt. She blamed herself for Uni's loss.

"Hey, don't blame yourself. It was Noire's decision." Uzume said as she sighed. "Besides, it wasn't even confirmed that Noire's dead."

But Nepgear swung her head. "That could be, but I… I witnessed sis that not hesitate to kill her friend she used to hang out with before."

Now that surprised Uzume. She didn't say anything as a reply as she really didn't know what to say about that. Well, killing a friend didn't look like anything pleasant.

"I… I really don't know what's going on…" Nepgear said as she covered her face. "My sister… I know she's my sister… but at the same time… she isn't…"

Uzume just raised an eyebrow. That was really a blunt explanation. "Well, do you remember the dream you have back in my dimension?"

Nepgear swung her head. "I can't remember a single thing…"

Uzume bit her lip. The dream Nepgear had could be the only lead they had in finding the truth. Even though it was Uzume who put her into sleep, she really couldn't see what Nepgear was dreaming. Well, she should be able to do so, but for some reason, she couldn't.

And so, even though that she couldn't expect anything from _them_ , she made up her mind to confront _them._

"Is that so…" Uzume said and she stood up. "Well, I can't do anything if you can't remember anything, so I guess I'll have to do some labor work."

Nepgear didn't really get what she meant by that, though she didn't try to ask as she knew Uzume wouldn't give her a direct answer.

"Oh, by the way, Histoire is in the other room." Uzume said as she pointed to the opaque glass window. "I'll see you around, Nepgear." She then disappeared into thin air.

Nepgear stood up and headed for the exit. She then entered the room next to the room she was previously in, and saw two people inside.

"Histoire!" Nepgear said as she ran towards Histoire. "I'm glad to see you safe."

"I am glad to see you well too, Nepgear." Histoire said as she felt relieved. Nothing could have ever relieved her worries other than seeing Nepgear alive and well.

Nepgear noticed the other woman beside Nepgear. "Histoire, who is she?"

"Ah, she's Nishizawa Mina, Blanc's oracle." Histoire answered, though Nepgear raised her eyebrow. Mina just waved nervously at Nepgear as a greeting. Of course, she would be nervous, and the reason was obvious enough. "To put it simply, she's like me to Blanc."

"I see." Nepgear said. She then faced Mina and approached her. "It's nice to meet you, Nishizawa Mina. I'm Nepgear, as you may already know, the CPU of Planeptune."

"L-Likewise, Lady N-Nepgear!" Mina said nervously as repeatedly bowed at her.

"Just Nepgear is fine." Nepgear said and smiled at Mina. That somehow calmed the nervous girl, and Nepgear was glad to see it. She really didn't want to cause any misunderstanding she was here, after all. "By the way, where's Uni?"

Mina just pointed towards the direction where the elevator was. "I… don't know. She might've took the elevator up." Mina looked so troubled as she said that. Nepgear noticed the window beside her, and saw that the room she was previously in was visible from there, so she assumed that they witnessed everything that had happened earlier. Though it didn't really bother her that much.

Nepgear sighed. "I see. I guess I'll have to look for her myself."

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – Terminal room.

Inside the said room, Vert and Blanc could be seen having a conversation with each other. Whatever they were talking about, it was definitely about Nepgear.

"What do you think, Vert?" Blanc asked.

Vert didn't really know what to answer, and so she just swung her head. "I don't know. We can't let our guard down around Nepgear."

"Same here." Blanc said as she sighed. "The last thing I want is her to go on a rampage again and wreck my Basilicom."

Vert couldn't agree more. Even though it wasn't her Basilicom that was in danger, it still wasn't a good thing for her. One was because the mainframe of their defense system was in Lowee, and secondly, it was Blanc's Basilicom. Yep, her Basilicom.

But after that, a voice suddenly spoke in the room.

"You don't need to worry about that."

The two CPUs recognized that voice. It was the voice of that person who kept on appearing whenever it was convenient for her. And that was what happened, as dark red mist surrounded the room for a brief moment and a midnight blue-haired girl appeared as the mist disappeared.

"What do you mean by that, Uzume?" Vert asked.

Yes, the person who just appeared was Uzume, a close friend of Nepgear, or so she claimed.

"Nepgear is still herself, I can assure you that." Uzume said.

Vert and Blanc didn't look so convinced but seeing Uzume's confident face, well, they still weren't convinced. They just shrugged it.

"Anyway, I've got to holler at you two." Uzume said. "I am not expecting anything, but I need to know something from you."

Now that made Blanc pissed. Of course, anyone would be after hearing that. Not expecting something but still asking? That was some next-level form of mockery.

"The fuck's that supposed to mean?!" Blanc said as she tried to grab Uzume, but of course, she failed to do so as she just passed through her body.

"Now, now, Blanc, let's just hear what she wants to say." Vert said as she pulled Blanc back beside her.

Uzume cleared her throat before speaking. "I know you said before back in my dimension that you didn't want to try finding where Nepgear's dream was manifesting, but I want to make sure if you didn't change your mind."

The two CPUs sweat dropped as their faces became stern. They really want to know the extent of Uzume's sharpness, as if she almost knew everything that was going on around her. And with that reaction, it gave Uzume an idea that they did.

"I'll take that as a no, then." Uzume said. "So, what did you see there?"

Vert and Blanc stared at each other before turning back to Uzume. It seemed like they weren't sure if they should tell her about what they say, but nonetheless they decided to do so. Vert did the talking, and she told Uzume everything that they learned during their stay in Nepgear's dream. Uzume didn't really react too much as Vert did her storytelling, but she was constantly biting her lip.

"…And then, we got thrown out of the dream all of a sudden after that." Vert then ended her storytelling. "Why did you ask us about this? Wouldn't it be better if you asked Nepgear herself?"

Uzume swung her head. "I wouldn't be here asking you if Nepgear could tell me." She said as she crossed her arms. "Besides, it's normal to forget the dreams you had in your sleep."

She had a point. Vert didn't say anything as a reply as what Uzume just said was true. Though what she couldn't understand was what Uzume was trying to do.

"Anyway, thanks for telling me. I need to go now." Uzume then suddenly disappeared, leaving Blanc and Vert inside the room alone.

The two CPUs just sighed in disappointment. Uzume never told them about any of her intentions, it was getting harder for them to trust her as days passed by.

"So, does that mean, we can't extract any intel from Nepgear about Neptune's return?" Blanc asked.

Vert sighed. "Well, Uzume said that Nepgear couldn't remember anything in that dream, and what she said before that Nepgear wished for Neptune's return is useless to us."

Blanc couldn't agree more, and they were back to square one.

 **~o~O~o**

"Haahh…"

Outside a balcony in Lowee's Basilicom, Uni was constantly sighing as she stared at the skies.

"I shouldn't have hit her…" Uni said as she sighed again. Her emotions got the better of her, but of course, it was Noire and Lastation which where the topic back there. And all of those were because of Nepgear, was what Uni had in mind.

But still, she felt like she really shouldn't have done what she did earlier. She just slapped the CPU of Planeptune, which was almost tantamount to declaration of war. But then again, they were already at war with Planeptune.

Uni didn't realize that she was spacing out too much that she didn't notice someone call her from behind.

"Uni…?"

But still, Uni didn't turn around. Her thoughts were flying somewhere else, and it didn't look like it would land back in her mind any sooner.

"Uni…!"

That call finally snapped Uni out of her thoughts as she jolted up. She turned around and saw Nepgear behind her, who was somehow shaking a little.

"Nepgear…?" Uni was surprised to see Nepgear. She didn't expect her to approach even after what she did to her earlier. "Look… I, uh… I'm sorry about earlier…"

Nepgear swung her head. "No… I deserved that." She said as she bit her lip. "Kuro—Uzume told me everything that had happened in the past few days and, uh, I really want to apologize about it... especially about Noire…"

Now that surprised Uni. Actually, no, she didn't really look so surprised, but she still did nonetheless. Because Nepgear was still the same from way back when they first met. A calm and level-headed person, and a responsible one.

"No, really… it was my sister's decision…" Uni said as she swung her head. "If she didn't do that, we might've gotten killed by Neptune already."

Nepgear bit her lip. With how Uni interpreted that, it sounded like Noire was already dead. But of course, they hadn't confirmed it yet so there was still a shred of hope.

But then again, the chances of that happening was high. Nepgear witnessed what Neptune did to Falcom. If she could do that to her close friend, how much more to someone she considered an enemy?

"…Do you hate me, Uni…?" Nepgear asked unintentionally. She immediately regretted asking that, as it was too straightforward, and it sounded like a confession. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's not like that…" Uni interrupted as she averted her eyes away from Nepgear. "I… I don't know. I seriously don't…"

Nepgear was kinda relieved as Uni didn't misunderstood her. The last thing she wanted was Uni getting the wrong idea about her. And so, she smiled at that response.

"As long as you don't hate me, that's fine with me." Nepgear said with a smile.

Uni's heart raced. This was the first time she saw Nepgear smile. Not like she was seeing her often but still, that smile of hers was genuine.

"O-Okay…" Uni couldn't reply anything else other than that word. Shortly after that, Nepgear kneeled in front of Uni and grabbed her right hand, which again made Uni's heart race, faster than before.

"I have decided…" Nepgear said as she stared at Uni's eyes. "I will protect you with my life until we defeat my sister."

That surprised Uni. She didn't expect Nepgear to say those words, especially the last three words. Because this was Neptune they were talking about, and the CPUs knew how Nepgear longed for her. But for Nepgear to say 'defeat my sister' must've meant something.

"I know what you're thinking. Of course, I still believe that _she's_ my sister… but I also believe that she isn't..." Nepgear said as she held Uni's hand tighter. She then pulled Uni's hand closer to her chest. "I want to bring my sister back, but I can't do it alone…"

Uni didn't know what to say at all. Earlier, she was feeling resentment towards Nepgear, but now, it got washed away and was replaced by pity. All those years without her sister, Nepgear must've felt very lonely. And she couldn't imagine the agony Nepgear felt during those years, and even now.

And so, Uni made a decision. She pulled Nepgear up and held both of her hands. "We still have a score to settle with your sister, so you're not alone in this fight." Uni said as she gave Nepgear a smile. That brightened the Planeptune CPU, and she pulled Uni into a hug, which surprised the CPU candidate.

"Thank you, Uni…" Nepgear almost teared up. Uni couldn't help it but just smile at the Planeptune CPU. Though her smile disappeared as her phone rang.

She took her phone out to see who was calling, and found out that it was Kei. Uni was wondering what could've happened, as Kei would never call for help if she can do a job herself.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Nepgear asked.

Uni didn't say anything and just nodded. She then accepted the call. "Hello, Kei? What's up?"

" _Uni, I need you back here now. As in, now."_

"What's going on, Kei? Why do you sound so panicked?" Uni asked and then turned to Nepgear, who had this serious expression on her face as she listened to the conversation.

" _Noire activated her emergency beacon. It was coming from Celestia."_

With that said, Uni's and Nepgear's eyes widened in surprise.

* * *

 **Well, there you have it! This should be much much longer if I didn't cut it here, probably around 18k words or so, but I can't keep you guys waiting, can I?**

 **Anyway, I'm sorry again if this came very late. I just had a small family issues for a few weeks so I really couldn't concentrate on working on this one, but it's alright now.**

 **Cons of having a very long chapter, proofreading is very hard, and sudden changes are very hard to commit. :(**

 **So, what do you think guys? Drop your comments/violent reactions/suggestions down in your whooping reviews! It will be greatly appreciated!**

 **Until next time, see ya guys~**


	12. Breakout

**Hello guys! Time for Chapter 12!**

 **I will apologize again for delivering this chapter late. Well, I've been too preoccupied with real life stuff. I really can't do anything but just deal with it.**

 **Anyway, no questions to be answered from the previous chapter for now xD**

 **Onto the chapter now! Enjoy :)**

* * *

Inside Lowee's Basilicom, Uni and Nepgear could be seen running along the corridors. They were heading towards the direction where the terminal room was located. As soon as they arrived at their destination, they didn't think twice and went inside the room. They saw two people inside the room, seemingly talking to each other.

"Ms. Vert! Ms. Blanc!" Uni called as they entered the room. Vert and Blanc turned towards Uni, who was accompanied by Nepgear, which surprised the two CPUs. But that didn't matter to them as they were more concerned about Uni sounding so panicked.

"What's wrong, Uni?" Vert asked.

Uni tried to catch her breathing before talking again. "Sis is alive! She's in Celestia!"

"What?!" Vert and Blanc were surprised to hear that. They really didn't expect Noire to escape Neptune's grips, but they also didn't believe that she would go down that easily. "Come on, we have to go there now!"

Blanc tried to go out of the room and head to her gateway to Celestia, but she was stopped by Vert as she grabbed her hand. "No, Blanc, we don't know where in Celestia Noire is."

"Then what the hell are we standing here for?!"

Vert ignored Blanc's outbursts and turned to Uni. "Uni, do you have any information where could Noire be in Celestia?"

Uni tried to think about it for a second. Surely, she had no idea, but surely Kei had one. That was why she wanted her to go back to Lastation pronto. "I… have no information, but sis' most trusted person might have, and she's in Lastation's Basilicom right now."

"Then we're going to Lastation now." Vert said as she let Blanc go. "Let's drop by Histoire and Mina before leaving. We have to inform them that Noire is alive."

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Basilicom.

After the CPUs informed Histoire and Mina about the current situation, they immediately set forth to Lastation. They didn't waste any second and headed to the terminal room as soon as they arrived in the Basilicom, somehow startling the staffs, most likely because Nepgear was with them. Yes, the staff in the Basilicom knew Nepgear's identity even in human form, as they were informed. They asked why the Planeptune CPU was with them, with Uni only telling them that Nepgear was not associated with Planeptune anymore. The staff didn't quite believe what Uni just said, but none of them tried to object with it. With Nepgear being together with the other CPUs, it wouldn't be less convincing.

As they arrived at the terminal room, they went inside without any second thoughts. From there, they saw a girl with silver-colored hair, sitting in front of a computer.

"Kei!" Uni called.

The girl named Kei turned to Uni as soon as she heard the call. She was delighted to see Uni and the CPUs, but then her delight died down as she saw Nepgear.

"What is she doing here?" Kei asked as she pointed at Nepgear. It didn't look like that Kei was expecting Nepgear to be with them.

"Wait, Kei, she's no threat to us." Uni said.

Kei eyed Nepgear for a bit. Nepgear's expression didn't change even though Kei extended her stares at her. Though Blanc already lost her patience as they should be worrying about Noire more than Nepgear being in Lastation.

"Cut that shit out, where in Celestia is Noire?!"

Kei then sighed and quitted staring at Nepgear. She then turned back to the monitor signaled the CPUs to come over. They walked towards Kei and looked at where she was pointing on the screen.

"I can't pinpoint her exact location, but she's just around the exit where the elevator to Celestia will take you." Kei said as she pointed to several possible locations on the screen as they were blinking.

Blanc didn't look so pleased with that. Apart from nothing was easy for them, she was thinking that something was off with what Kei just said. "It looks like a trap to me."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean we can just ignore it." Vert commented. "Whatever the lead about Noire's current situation, we need to take the risk. We can't lose her."

Blanc didn't say anything as a reply. It was true though, they needed Noire more than anything. They had to get her back whatever it takes.

"It makes me feel better hearing that from you, Vert." Kei said as she cracked a smile.

"You're welcome."

With that said, Uni decided to speak up as the discussion was getting a little longer. "Then what are we standing here for? Let's go and pick sis up!" She said.

"Calm down, Uni. We'll get to that." Kei said as she stood up from her chair. "Follow me to the gate." She then headed for the exit, with the CPUs following her lead.

They silently walked in the corridors as they followed Kei, and after a short while, they arrived at a certain door with a crystal-like object embedded in it. Kei placed her hand on the scanner and then the door suddenly opened.

"How did you gain access to this room, Kei?" Uni asked. She wasn't aware of this as all she knew was only Noire was able to enter the gateway to Celestia. Well, Uni could access this room as well, but she couldn't go to Celestia using the actual gateway as Noire forbade her to do so, and she made it that way.

"My level of authority here is almost the same as Noire." Kei said like it was a matter of fact. That surprised the CPUs as they had the impression that Noire really, really trusted this person, in which Noire actually did. "Though of course, I don't have any plans of going to Celestia myself, unless the situation really calls for it."

Uni couldn't believe that. Though she kinda saw that coming when Noire considered Kei as her most trusted person, like an Oracle. Celestia was a dangerous place, as it was once considered a battlefield, and also Neptune could access that area as well.

Without further ado, Kei activated the gateway using a share crystal that she just took out from her pocket. The CPUs were surprised as they saw Kei possessed a share crystal, but they didn't bother asking about it as they've got better things to worry about. As the gateway was finally fully functional, Kei stepped aside and offered the way to the CPUs.

"Please bring Noire back." Kei said.

The CPUs nodded. They then headed for the elevator, but before Nepgear could step inside, she was stopped by Blanc. "Not so fast, Nepgear."

"What?" Nepgear was surprised as Blanc blocked her way.

"You heard what I said earlier. It could be a trap." Blanc said. "The last thing we need is you to get caught by Neptune."

"But-"

Before Nepgear could utter a single word, Vert stopped her. "Please, Nepgear. You're the most vulnerable to Neptune, and we just don't want anything to happen to you or everything we've done will be for naught."

Nepgear didn't say anything after that. She turned to Uni with a troubled look on her face. Uni knew what Nepgear had in mind. Nepgear just wanted to keep her vow to Uni, and she needed to be by Uni's side in order to do that.

"I'll be fine, don't worry. We'll just grab sis and get back quick." Uni said as she gave Nepgear a reassuring smile.

Nepgear still wasn't reassured with that, but she didn't complain anymore.

"If there are no more qualms, then let's go pick Noire up." Blanc said as she entered the gateway, followed by Uni and Vert. After a short while, a light glowed in the gateway and the three disappeared with it.

Nepgear just stared at the gateway. It was still functional, as it would be the same way that they'd need to pass through when going back. She was at unease, as Uni and the others were walking into a trap, even though they knew it.

"…"

Around fifteen minutes had already passed, and they still hadn't returned. Nepgear was already growing anxious about the current situation.

"…"

It wasn't like Nepgear agreed to the agreement or anything. And so, what she did was follow what she ought to think was right.

"Ms. Kei, I'm sorry, but I think I really need to go to Celestia." Without waiting for Kei's reply, Nepgear stepped inside the gateway and disappeared.

Kei didn't even look bothered with Nepgear's action. In fact, she already thought a thing or two about what the Planeptune CPU had in mind. The way she looked at Uni and what the Lastation CPU candidate said earlier gave it all away, after all.

 **~o~O~o~**

Celestia.

A place where green grasses, rainbow bridges, and floating lands could be seen. Despite the beautiful scenery, this place was once considered a battlefield. A stage where the CPUs used to determine who had the right to earn the title of being the True Goddess by fighting off against each other.

Somewhere in Celestia, a portal just opened, and three people got out of it. The people who got out of the portal were Blanc, Vert, and Uni, the CPU of Lowee, Leanbox, and CPU candidate of Lastation, respectively.

"I never imagined that I'd return in this place." Blanc said as she looked around.

"Yes, I feel the same way." Vert said.

The two CPUs didn't have a pleasant look on their faces, as whichever angle they look in the area, they could only remember bad memories. This place was where their battle royale took place, and where Neptune died, after all.

For Uni, since it was her first time here, she was amazed by the view. It wasn't every day that she would see a rainbow bridge that connects different terrains.

"So this is Celestia…" Uni mumbled as she looked around.

"Don't look so amazed now, Uni." Blanc said without looking at her. "Despite the beautiful view here, this is where we CPUs tried to kill each other."

Uni turned to Blanc, who was biting her lip as she looked forward. She was aware that her sister and the other CPUs tried to kill each other in this place before, but even so, she couldn't describe this place as anything but beautiful.

"Come on, we've got to find Noire fast and get out of here." Blanc said and transformed, with Vert doing the same and Uni as well after Vert.

They circled around the area. Splitting up wasn't an option for them as they couldn't risk themselves getting caught by Neptune while alone if ever she would be in this place. They were flying around the area near the portal they got out as Kei said that Noire was nearby, so searching somewhere far wasn't necessary.

They did that for about ten minutes, but still, they couldn't find Noire. There were too many terrains to check, and inspecting them one by one was time-consuming.

"Where the hell could Noire be now? We're getting a little exposed here." Blanc said as she looked at the terrains below her.

"I feel the same way, but we're not going to stop until we find her." Vert said as she clenched her fists. "Let's just hope Neptune wouldn't find us first."

Uni didn't say anything, but she felt the same way. She was well aware of the danger they were in already, but of course, they had to find Noire.

As they were flying around, Uni spotted a terrain that was just below three other floating lands.

"Ms. Vert, Ms. Blanc, look!" Uni said as she pointed to the said terrain.

Blanc and Vert stopped and went back to Uni. They then directed their eyes towards where Uni was pointing. From there, they saw a land hidden between and below three terrains, almost hidden within plain sight, and can easily be missed, but thanks to Uni's sharp eyes, she managed to spot it even if it was hidden perfectly.

"Let's go check it out." Vert said.

Uni and Blanc nodded at her and they flew towards the area. They had inspected almost every nearby land around the portal anyway, so searching in that hidden land could give them a lead.

Or…

"Look…!" Uni pointed at the hidden land as she got a clear view of it.

The two other CPUs were surprised with what they saw. They didn't expect _her_ to see _her_ there.

"Noire!" They called in unison.

Yes, the person they saw was Noire. But, her status was something they did not expect.

Or did they?

"Sis…!" Uni called, but no response from Noire was received. They hurried toward the terrain and landed beside Noire. "Sis…!"

On the ground, Noire was unconscious. She was in her human form, and her body was covered in bruises and wounds. They didn't know if her condition was critical, but they assumed that it was.

Blanc didn't waste any second and picked Noire up and placed the unconscious CPU on her back. "Let's get out of here."

Vert and Uni nodded at Blanc and rose up to the skies. They didn't take any detours and headed straight for the portal. They could already see it from their position, but before they could get close to it…

"AAAAHHHH-!"

Blanc and Vert heard a scream from behind. They stopped and turned around, and saw Uni falling down to a land, with her side bleeding. They didn't know what happened exactly.

"Uni!" Blanc and Vert then rushed to Uni's aid, but suddenly, multiple swords dropped down from above them. They did an emergency evasive maneuver by stopping and kicking the air to back away.

"What the hell?!" Blanc tried to look for the person who just attacked them, and as soon as she looked above her, she saw someone dropping down from a height with near lightning speed, seemingly heading towards Uni, with the objective of killing her as that person had a sword in her hands.

"Neptune!" Vert shouted. Yes, the person who was aiming to take Uni's life was Neptune, the CPU of Planeptune. Vert attempted to rush to Uni's aid and protect her, but because she was too far from Uni, she realized that she wouldn't make it. "UNIIII!"

Vert still tried to reach for Uni, but before Neptune could attack Uni, a flash of purple light suddenly overtook Vert, then a dome of light covered the whole land and protected the CPU candidate as it blocked Neptune's sword.

"Wha-?!" Neptune was surprised as her attack was repelled. Her sword flew up to the skies as it collided with the dome of light. She didn't see who erected this barrier, but she knew that the purple flash which suddenly came straight for Uni was responsible for it.

Shortly after that, something went out of the dome of light. Vert immediately recognized the person who just escaped the barrier. "Nepgear?!"

Blanc also didn't expect Nepgear to come here. Of course, they forbade her to go earlier, but she didn't abide it.

"Don't just stand there and get moving!" Nepgear ordered. She was carrying Uni in her arms, who was intensively bleeding from her waist.

Vert and Blanc didn't waste any second and flew away from the scene, followed by Nepgear.

But of course, Neptune wasn't going to let them escape, especially her sister. "I'm taking you home, Nepgear…" Without wasting a single moment, she burst out and gave the escaping CPUs a chase.

Not too long after that, Neptune was almost catching up with the CPUs, with Vert and Blanc still on the lead. Nepgear glanced back a little and saw her sister behind her.

"Hold on tight, Uni." Nepgear said as she held Uni tighter, even though Uni probably didn't hear her as she was already unconscious.

Vert and Blanc managed to reach the gateway first. Nepgear, on the other hand, was still trying to reach the portal while carrying Uni in her arms. Her speed drastically dropped down because of Uni, but she didn't let it bother her. She would protect Uni at all cost.

"Come on, Nepgear!" Vert said. They were waiting for Nepgear to arrive before closing the gateway that will bring them back to Lastation.

Nepgear glanced back once more and saw her sister trying to reach for her. She didn't let it get through her and faced forward whilst increasing her flight speed, though Neptune was still closing the gap between them.

"We're going home now, Nepgear." Neptune said as she cracked a smile. She could almost reach Nepgear already.

But of course, Nepgear had different plans. "Not right now, sis."

Before Neptune could reach Nepgear, she suddenly disappeared as she got swallowed by something. Of course, Neptune didn't look so surprised with that, as she knew what just happened. They just got out of Celestia.

Even though Nepgear escaped her grasp, Neptune's smile didn't go away. She didn't look disappointed, even though her sister managed to get away along with Noire. Whatever Neptune was thinking, only she herself knew.

"You can't escape from me, Nepgear… you're my beloved sister…"

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Somewhere in Planeptune._

 _On a certain tall building, Uzume was standing on the edge of the roof. She wasn't just standing there while doing nothing; she was staring at right hand which was covered in dark red mist. She seemed to be thinking deeply as she glued her eyes on her hand._

"…"

 _Something was bugging her mind, though it looked like she didn't have an exact idea of what that was. She could think a thing or two but still wasn't sure of it._

"… _Neptune is the real threat here, yes… but…"_

 _That was obvious, of course. With Neptune's recent actions, she was already considered as the greatest threat to Gamindustri. Far more dangerous than Arfoire, she was sure of it._

 _But the biggest question was, how would they defeat her. Neptune's current strength could be too much for the CPUs, even with Nepgear on their side._

 _Uzume bit her lip. She should know how Neptune could be defeated, as when she was back in her dimension with Nepgear, she gave a portion of her power to her. That was why Nepgear's wish was granted. But for some reason, she couldn't find a single weakness of Neptune._

"… _Or is it…?" A thought came in her mind, but she quickly discarded it. Why? Because…_

" _Of course not… It would be super convenient if that's the case…"_

 _Wondering what she just had in mind? Well, to put it simply, Nepgear wished for Neptune's return. The 'super convenient' solution Uzume just thought was, if Nepgear didn't wish for Neptune anymore, then she would disappear._

 _Convenient, right? But of course, Uzume knew that it would be absurd. It should be more than just not wishing for Neptune anymore. After all, even if Nepgear would stop longing for 'her sister', somewhere in her heart, she still would. That was how Neptune meant for her._

"… _What should I do now…?" Uzume asked herself, but of course, her question was left unanswered._

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Basilicom.

Inside a certain room in the Basilicom, Vert, Blanc, and Nepgear suddenly appeared. Another person was present in the said room, who was waiting for their arrival. It was Kei who was waiting for them.

"…Uni…!" The first person Kei noticed. She immediately ran towards Uni, who was being held by Nepgear in her arms. Also, Kei noticed the injury that Uni had in her waist. "What happened…?"

"I will explain later. Let's get Uni and Noire in the med bay and get them treated." Nepgear said. Kei didn't say anything and lead them to the medical room, with Blanc and Vert following them from behind without saying anything.

After a short while of walking, they arrived in the med bay. They immediately entered the area without further ado. The place was devoid of people, so they didn't have to think about explaining the two Lastation CPUs' condition to anyone.

Nepgear laid Uni down on a bed. Blanc did the same to Noire but on another bed. Kei then walked to the wall, which somehow confused the other CPUs, but as they witnessed what Kei did, their confusion disappeared in an instant.

"Please bring them here." Kei said as the wall suddenly split up and opened. "This place is solely for healing the CPUs when they get injured." She then went inside the hidden room. Nepgear and Blanc pushed Uni's and Noire's bed, respectively, into the room, followed by Vert.

Blanc and Vert were surprised with what they had seen. There were two large capsules that looked like healing pods, enough for a person to fit in, which was filled with some sort of liquid inside. They also learned that this whole mechanism was fueled up by share energy, as they saw a shining share crystal connected to the machine.

"I'll take it from here. Please just wait outside." Kei said. The CPUs nodded and headed for the exit. The door then suddenly started to close, and as soon as it did so, Blanc grabbed Nepgear by the collar.

"What the hell were you thinking earlier?! What if Neptune caught you?!" Blanc pulled Nepgear's collar up, but the Planeptune CPU didn't even flinch.

Vert was startled with Blanc's sudden aggression. "Blanc! Knock it-" But she was interrupted before she could finish her sentence.

"Don't stop me on this one, Vert!" Blanc said angrily. "Now, explain yourself!"

Nepgear didn't say anything as she just glared at Blanc. It looked like she wouldn't back down with her decision. Blanc just gritted her teeth and gripped Nepgear's collar tighter, trying to choke her, but before she could do so, Vert intervened and separated them both.

"Blanc, enough! If it wasn't for her, Uni wouldn't be here anymore!" Vert said. Blanc clicked her tongue after hearing that. Of course, she knew that if it wasn't for her, Uni would probably be dead. It was just, she was infuriated with Nepgear not doing what they agreed on.

Well, Nepgear didn't even say that she agreed with it though.

With that said, Nepgear fixed her collar and turned around, headed for the exit. Before she went out, she turned back to them and said, "It was the right thing for me not to trust you two in keeping Uni safe." She then went out of the room.

"Why, you!" Blanc tried to chase Nepgear, but she was stopped by Vert. "Let me go, Vert! I'm gonna kill that bitch!"

"Calm down, Blanc! You're not making the situation any better!" Vert said as she kept Blanc in place by holding her in her arms.

Though it didn't look like Blanc was going to calm down any moment.

 **~o~O~o~**

Nepgear walked down the corridors of the Basilicom, with no particular destination in mind. Her palms were curled into fists, and she was gritting her teeth tightly, almost hurting her gums but she did not particularly care.

Why? Because she hated herself.

She hated herself for not being able to protect Uni, despite vowing to her that she'd keep her safe. She should've just ignored their warning and went with them in the first place. If she had just done that, Uni wouldn't be hurt.

Nepgear stopped in her tracks and punched the wall. She punched the wall so hard that it made her fist bleed, but none of that mattered to her.

"Are you alright, Nepgear?" A voice suddenly spoke. Nepgear didn't even try to look for the source as she recognized whose voice was that.

"Do I look alright to you, Kurome?" Nepgear asked with an angry tone.

Yes, that person who just spoke out of nowhere was Kurome, and she was standing behind Nepgear. She had an idea about why Nepgear was acting like this, but still, she wanted to know it from Nepgear herself.

"What happened earlier…?" Kurome asked, though she wasn't expecting Nepgear to talk.

Her expectations were blown away as Nepgear actually told her about what happened earlier. More importantly, about what Nepgear saw and did. As Kurome listened to Nepgear's talk, she couldn't help but feel that something was off, specifically Noire being in Celestia.

"Hmmm, so Neptune brought Noire in Celestia and created a trap for the CPUs." Kurome said.

Nepgear mentioned that along her narration earlier, but she didn't understand why Kurome seemed to be into it. "Uh, yeah, I said that earlier."

But Kurome swung her head afterward. "Yeah, I know, but didn't you find it weird?"

"What is…?"

Kurome didn't reply to that. It seemed like Nepgear hadn't realized it, but so did Kurome as well. She might have had an idea or two, but she wasn't certain of it. After all, this was Neptune they were talking about. She was an epitome of uncertainty.

"I'm not sure yet, but…" Kurome bit her lip as she paused. "I know that there's something wrong here."

Nepgear raised an eyebrow. She really couldn't follow where Kurome was going with her words, but Nepgear didn't try to find out as Kurome herself wasn't sure of it.

"Anyway, for the time being, don't leave Uni's side." Kurome said as she waved her hand. "We shouldn't do anything reckless for now, so let's wait and see what Neptune will do."

Nepgear didn't disagree with that and nodded, though she didn't understand why Kurome had to point out the obvious, which was, not leaving Uni's side. Truthfully, that was the only logical thing to do. They couldn't just launch an assault on Planeptune, not with their current status. Either way, they should be safe as long as they stayed inside the barriers.

Or so Nepgear thought.

 **~o~O~o~**

Few hours had passed since the CPUs got back from Celestia. Blanc and Vert were still staying in the room next to where Kei was staying in with her CPUs. Nepgear was nowhere to be found, though probably she was lurking around the Basilicom, Blanc and Vert didn't particularly care.

As Blanc and Vert sat still in the room, the wall suddenly opened and Kei appeared from it. The two CPUs suddenly stood up and approached Kei as they saw her.

"How are they?" Vert asked.

Kei's expression didn't change, but she sighed in relief. "Noire didn't seem to have suffered a critical injury, and Uni's wound wasn't too deep, so they're both safe."

After hearing that, the two CPUs sighed in relief as well. The last thing they needed was losing either or both of them.

"It looks like they won't wake up any sooner, so you two should go back to your respective nations." Kei suggested. "I'll inform you when Noire wakes up."

Blanc and Vert nodded and thanked Kei before leaving. Kei sat down on a chair and sighed deeply as the two CPUs left. It seemed like she was dead tired from the events earlier.

"Well, it's good that Noire's back… and Uni's safe but…" Kei mumbled as she closed her eyes. She recalled what she and Uni talked about a few days ago, about the time they recovered Nepgear from Planeptune. To her perspective, "… I feel like something's amiss…"

Yep, that was what she thought.

 **~o~O~o~**

Along the corridors of the Basilicom, Vert and Blanc could be seen walking together, seemingly heading towards the exit. They weren't talking about anything, as there was nothing to talk about at all.

But not after they stepped out of the Basilicom.

"Shouldn't we tell Nepgear first that we're leaving?" Vert asked as she stopped in her tracks.

Blanc turned to her and didn't look like she was pleased with the idea. "Ha? Leave her alone. It doesn't matter to her, neither to me."

"Come on, Blanc… she's still-"

Before Vert could say what she wanted, Blanc interrupted her as she transformed. "If you want to go and tell her, I won't stop you. I don't care and I'm leaving." She said and then flew up to the skies, leaving Vert alone.

Vert sighed in disbelief. She wondered when would their relationship with Nepgear even get better. Truth to be told, she was conflicted with her own idea, but after giving it a few thoughts, she decided to leave Nepgear be. After all, she didn't know what she should say to her.

And so, Vert decided to go back to Leanbox. She'd just think about something later.

 **~o~O~o~**

On a certain Balcony in Lastation's Basilicom, Nepgear could be seen staring at the skies. Her mind was drifting somewhere else as she leaned on the metal railings while the wind blew through her face.

"…"

Nepgear gripped the railings tighter. She was seriously conflicted. What happened to Uni earlier was definitely Neptune's doing, but of course, Nepgear couldn't bring herself to hate her own sister. She just couldn't.

Because despite being what she was, she was still her sister. That one fact would never change.

"-Nepgear…?"

Suddenly, Nepgear heard a call from behind her. She turned around and saw Kei standing in the doorway. "Ms. Kei…"

"I can't thank you enough for saving Uni while escaping your own sister. It must've been hard…"

Nepgear didn't say a word and just made a small frown. What Kei said was true, as that was what she was feeling. Wishing for Neptune return, and it was granted, but only to stay away from her. That feeling couldn't get more agonizing than it was already.

"No… it was my decision… I have to deal with it…" Nepgear said as she looked away, but Kei could see right through her. Though Kei didn't try to delve further as she knew Nepgear had suffered more than she could imagine already.

Kei sighed. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Nepgear was silent. She really didn't have anything in mind. Of course, fighting her own sister was something she could never do. Though if she was to think of something to do, there could only be one thing.

"…I don't care what you and the other CPUs will do, but I will stay with Uni." Nepgear replied.

Kei gaped a little, only to smile after a short while. She was wondering how in good Gamindustri Uni managed to get on good terms with Nepgear.

"I couldn't ask for more." Kei said. "Come, let's go see Uni."

"Is she awake now?"

Kei swung her head. "Unfortunately, not yet, though-"

"Let's just leave her be for now." Nepgear said as she interrupted Kei. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Kei was surprised to hear that. She didn't expect Nepgear offer help, but since it would be a while before either Uni or Noire wakes up, she decided to take up Nepgear's offer.

"We're going to get busy." Kei said as she turned around and went back inside. Nepgear took that as a cue that there was indeed some work to do so she decided to follow Kei.

 **~o~O~o~**

Med bay – hidden room.

Inside the room, there were two capsules glowing, and each of it had something… or someone in it. Namely the CPU and CPU candidate of Lastation, Noire, and Uni, respectively.

"…"

The room was quiet; no people other than the two unconscious CPUs were present. It had been more or less a day since they were put inside these healing pods.

"…"

After a few moments, Uni's eyes slowly opened. She couldn't quite see what was in front of her as her vision hadn't completely recovered yet. Add that she was somewhat underwater, it couldn't go any better.

"…Ah…"

Uni realized where she was. There was an oxygen mask connected to an oxygen tank that was covering her nose and mouth for her to breathe, so it wasn't difficult for her to speak as well.

'…Oh, I remember… I got injured…' Uni reached for her waist where she got impaled earlier, and fortunately, she didn't feel that her side got holes in it. It looked like her wound was completely healed, thanks to this healing pod.

Short while after Uni woke up, Nepgear and Kei entered the room. The two walked closer to the pods, and they saw Uni awake.

"Uni! You're awake!" Nepgear said.

Uni didn't say anything and just smiled. Kei hurriedly went to the control terminal and immediately disabled the healing pod Uni was in. The liquid that was inside the pod was instantly drained, and the glass opened. Nepgear prepared herself and caught Uni before she could fall down to the ground.

"I'm glad that you're awake, Uni…" Nepgear said and smiled at Uni.

"Nep…gear…"

Kei sighed in relief. Though her relief didn't last long as she saw Noire, who was still unconscious. Kei found it weird as she was certain that Uni had worse injury compared to Noire, but the little sister woke up first. Whichever angle she looked into it, that was definitely not normal.

"How… is sis…?" Uni asked.

Neither Kei nor Nepgear said a word, instead, the just pointed towards the other healing pod. Uni directed her attention to where the two was pointing and saw Noire inside the pod, unconscious.

"She's still unconscious, but her vital signs are stable, so you don't have to worry about her." Kei said.

Uni was relieved a little as she heard that, though she couldn't help it but worry. Lots of worst-case scenarios entered her mind, but she didn't let that get ahead of her. She knew her sister very well; she wouldn't go down that easily. She believed in her.

"Come on, let's get you dressed." Kei as she took a towel from somewhere in the room and covered Uni with it.

Nepgear assisted Uni in standing up and they headed for the exit. Before they stepped out of the room, Uni glanced once more time at her sister. Kei just told her that Noire would be fine, so Uni averted her eyes away from her sister. Nepgear brought Uni to her room after giving her something to wear temporarily, with Uni's guidance of course, while Kei stayed in the med bay as she said that she needed to take Noire out of her healing pod as it wouldn't be a good thing for her to stay in there for too long.

As they arrived at Uni's room, Nepgear immediately opened the door and entered the room with Uni.

"I'll wait outside." Nepgear said and left the room. Uni wasn't able to give a reply as Nepgear didn't really give her a chance to, so she just headed to her closet to get her clothes.

As she was changing, her thoughts wandered somewhere else. She remembered what happened back in Celestia, and that gave her chills down her spine.

'…I just evaded death, huh…?' She thought to herself. Now that she remembered that, she didn't really know who saved her, as she lost consciousness after receiving a blade to her side and falling from a height.

"I guess I'll ask Nepgear later…" She mumbled as she continued changing.

As she was done so, she closed her closet and went out of the room. She saw Nepgear staring outside the window, which was just in front of her door. From Uni's perspective, it seemed like Nepgear wasn't in a good mood.

"Nepgear…?"

Nepgear turned to Uni as she heard the call. "Oh, you're done." She said as she stepped away from the window. "Ms. Kei filled me in on the current situation of Lastation, so we've got work to do."

Uni wasn't surprised at all. "Okay, but before that…" Uni's expression turned into a worried one. "Are you alright…? You seemed to be a little down…"

Nepgear's eyes widened a little after hearing that. She didn't say anything and turned around.

"Nepgear…?"

Nepgear clenched her fists. "I'm sorry, Uni… I didn't make it in time…"

"What do you mean…?" Uni asked, though she already had an idea about what Nepgear was about to say.

Nepgear swung her head lightly. "If I had just followed you right after you entered Celestia, you wouldn't have been hurt…"

"But… you're the one who saved me, right…?"

Nepgear didn't say anything and just nodded, but it seemed like she wasn't happy with that. Uni understood that and just held Nepgear's hand, which surprised her.

"Still… thank you…" Uni mumbled. "You saved my life."

As Nepgear heard that, her fists opened up. Her heart felt a little warm from Uni's gratitude. Nepgear swore to herself that she'd never let something happen to Uni, ever again. And she'd do whatever it would take just to make sure of it.

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Planeptune – Basilicom._

 _Inside a certain room, Neptune was sitting on a chair that seemed to be a throne. It had been a few days since she got back from Celestia in order to trap the CPUs, but she failed to do so._

 _Even so, she didn't seem to be disappointed about her failure. Because she had this smile displayed on her lips for everyone to see, even if there was no one around her._

"…"

 _She leaned her cheek on her palm and put her elbow on the armrest of the throne. Her eyes were closed, and her smile never left her lips. It seemed like she was planning… or she had planned something already, and it was going well._

" _Now then… it's time for you to do your job…"_

 _..._

" _Don't disappoint me now… N-"_

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Basilicom.

It had been five days since Noire was brought back to Lastation. She was still unconscious, even after being healed. Kei moved Noire outside the hidden room and let her rest in the med bay.

Around morning today, Nepgear and Uni were working outside the Basilicom, helping in the continuous recovery of Lastation. The structural repairs had commenced already, and with their help, the operations went smoothly.

It was around noon when the two decided to go back to the Basilicom. They needed to report to Kei about the progress of the operations, after all. But before they could enter the Basilicom, they saw Kei walking towards them.

"Oh, Uni, Nepgear, you caught me on my way out." Kei said as she approached the two.

"Where are you headed to, Kei?" Uni asked.

Kei just waved her hand. "I'm on my way back to the south. The project I started there has reached the middle phase, and I need to be there to oversee it."

"Seems like you have your hands full." Nepgear said as she smiled a little.

Kei just sighed and cracked a smile from Nepgear's comment. "Well, I'm used to it." She said. "Okay, I'll be on my way now. I'll leave Noire in your hands." She then walked away from them.

Uni and Nepgear followed Kei's figure until she disappeared from their sight before entering the Basilicom. Every day was a busy day for everyone in Lastation, Nepgear and Uni included. The damage the nation suffered from Neptune's attack was severe, and a few days or weeks wouldn't be enough to bring Lastation back to its good condition.

"Tough morning, isn't it?" Uni said as she sighed.

"What are you saying, Uni? We've been doing this for five days." Nepgear said as she chuckled a little.

Uni could just laugh nervously. "Y-Yeah, I guess. But still, I've never been busy like this in my whole life." She said as she sighed again. She was feeling a little fatigued; her head was spinning a little as well, which somehow made her walk a little wobbly and almost lose her balance as she walked, but Nepgear managed to keep her standing.

"Are you okay?" Nepgear had grown worried. "You should take a break for now, I'll handle the rest."

But Uni swung her head. "No, just a short rest will be fine. I'll be back as soon as I feel refreshed."

Nepgear tried to protest, but she just decided to let Uni do what she wanted. She understood it, of course. Lastation meant a lot to Uni as one of its CPUs; leaving the job to Nepgear, who was a CPU of another nation, would be a disgrace to her.

"Okay, but don't force yourself." Nepgear said as she sighed in defeat. "I'll be in the lounge and compile the report for Kei later. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me."

Uni nodded before leaving. She went straight to her room, as she was really not feeling too good. Fortunately, she arrived at her room without any problems, except for her growing headache.

"Ugh…"

She threw herself on the bed as soon as she entered her room. She wasn't just physically tired; her mind was also fatigued. The recovery operations were proceeding smoothly, and she was glad of that, of course. But it was nowhere near completion, and it seemed like it wouldn't be done any sooner.

"Haah…"

And, there was Noire she had to worry about. While Kei said that she shouldn't worry about Noire as she was in good condition, still, being unconscious for goddess knew how long would, of course, make her worried.

"…"

Uni's eyes were gaining weight already, so she closed them as she really couldn't fight it, and drifted off to sleep.

 **~o~O~o~**

"…Uuuh"

Uni opened her eyes as she woke up from her sleep. She found herself on her bed, with a blanket on top of her.

"…?"

She didn't recall putting a blanket on her before she slept. Well, she went down straight to the bed as soon as she arrived because she was dead tired earlier. She wasn't really used to heavy work, after all.

"…What time is it…"

Uni reached for her phone in her pocket. Good thing that this thing was durable so even in her sleep, it didn't get crushed. Well, her bed was also soft, so devices like that would be safe. And also again, she didn't weigh that much!

"Let's see…" She woke her phone up from sleep to check the time. There, on the screen, it showed that it was already past six in the evening. She sighed as she learned that. Working outdoors in the evening wasn't really her hobby, so yeah, that was a lot of hours wasted. Though someone would definitely complain if she said that out loud and heard that.

"Hmm… I better check up on sis…" She was about to slip out of her bed when she noticed that there was someone beside her. That person had her arms and her head resting on the bed, with the rest of her body sitting on the ground.

And that person was someone Uni knew personally.

"Nepgear…"

Yes, that person beside Uni was Nepgear. She was sleeping soundly, and it looked like she was tired. Most likely because of the work earlier. Uni felt bad as she thought that, though yeah, she kinda needed that rest or else she'd collapse. Either way, time had passed already so she couldn't do anything about that anymore.

"…"

Uni unconsciously reached for Nepgear and caressed her hair. For some reason, Uni felt a little joyful as she did that. She couldn't understand why, but being beside Nepgear made her feel at ease.

"…" Uni just smiled at Nepgear's sleeping face. She then took her hand back and carefully slipped out of the bed without waking Nepgear up. She put the blanket she was using earlier on top of Nepgear to prevent her from getting cold since the night was getting a little bit chilly.

As soon as she got out of the bed, she silently went out of the room and headed for the med bay. That was where Noire was staying in. She immediately entered the med bay as she arrived there, but she was surprised that there was no one in the room.

"Sis…?" Uni called out, but nobody replied. She tried to call again for a few times, but the results were indifferent. "…She's awake…?!"

Uni panicked. Noire must've gone out of the med bay and went somewhere else, but Uni had no idea where she could be. She just hoped that Noire didn't go out of the Basilicom.

First place that Uni thought about where Noire could've gone to was her own room. Uni immediately headed to Noire's room and tried to open the room, but she couldn't as it was locked.

"Sis?! Sis?! Are you in there?!" Uni called, but she got no replies. She tried to call a few more times, but nobody replied. That gave her an idea that the room was empty.

"…Damn it, where did sis go…?"

Actually, there were two more places where Noire would go. Uni decided to check those places and see for herself. First place that she checked was Noire's office, but as soon as she arrived there, she found out that there were no people inside as it was locked.

"Must be in _that_ place…"

Uni then left Noire's office and headed for the other place. Well, the other place was kinda obvious to Uni and wondered why she didn't check that place first. After a short while of walking, she arrived at her destination. The door in front of her had a power button logo, and it was glowing.

Yes, it was the terminal room. The place where they manage and keep the barrier in check.

Uni didn't think twice and entered the room. She was greeted by a dimmed room, with only a few computer terminals on.

"Sis…?"

But she didn't receive any reply. She scanned the room; it was a little dark so she couldn't see properly, but she saw someone from the other side of the room, at the corner of the room, specifically, seemingly using one of the computers. She walked closer to see who was using the computer.

And as soon as she got a good look at that person's face…

"Sis…!"

Yep, it was Noire, who was using the PC. Noire stopped working on the computer as she heard Uni's call.

Uni tried to approach her sister. "Sis, I was so worried about-" But before she could come close, Noire immediately drew her blade and attempted to cut Uni sideward.

Uni's instincts kicked in and she backed away as soon as she saw the blade heading towards her body, but she wasn't fast enough and her abdomen was sliced, enough to make it bleed. She fell down on the floor with her back.

Uni covered her wound with her arm as she tried to sit up, but her blood was flowing out of it continuously and the pain from her abdomen was so strong that it made her cringe. She didn't quite get what just happened.

"Sis…!?" Uni looked at Noire, who was slowly walking towards her. She moved back away from her sister, as she could definitely feel that something was wrong with her. But even if she tried to stay away from her sister, she wouldn't be able to get away from her.

"Sis…! What… are you… doing…?!" Uni tried to call out her sister, but Noire didn't even stagger. Uni felt her back touch the wall, and at the same time, Noire was just in front of her. Uni was startled as Noire lifted her sword up.

'Sis… is going to kill me…?!' That thought was the single one circling inside Uni's mind as she stared at her sister. Though it was kinda useless asking herself that because it was already happening.

Uni closed her eyes as Noire brought her sword down, aiming for Uni's head. Though after a few seconds, Uni didn't feel any pain, but instead, she heard a sound like something was broken. She opened her eyes and saw a door in front of her, with Noire a little far away from it. Not only that, there was another person in front of Uni, who seemed to have protected her. That person had a beam sword in her hands, and it was locked with Noire's sword, with both of them trying to repel each other.

As for that person…

"…Nepgear…?"

Yes, the person who protected Uni was Nepgear. She couldn't be mistaken, as she knew that long, lilac hair of hers. Nepgear blocked Noire's blade, preventing her from killing Uni.

"H-How… did you know that I was here…?" Uni asked. While yes, she was happy and all that Nepgear came to her aid, but she couldn't figure out how did she know that Uni was in danger, let alone in this room, as it looked like Nepgear was expecting this kind of scenario to unfold.

Nepgear pushed Noire away by swinging her beam sword forward. "I will never let any harm come to you, Uni." Nepgear said and then dashed to Noire.

"Please don't kill my sister!" Uni tried to stand up, but she couldn't as her wound gave her a river of pain the moment she tried to lift her body up. Nepgear didn't really pay attention to her plea. Uni knew what kind of relationship Nepgear had with the other CPUs, and she also knew that Nepgear would not think twice about killing any of them.

After all, Nepgear had all the reason to do so.

Nepgear did a spinning slice as she got close to Noire, but the Lastation CPU managed to block her attack. The computers around them were getting blown away each time their swords clashed, and the room didn't really look like a place where a swordfight should be done. Though Nepgear was trying to keep the damages down while keeping Noire at bay, it looked like she wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.

"Nepgear…!" Uni tried to call her once more, but Nepgear didn't pay her heed. From her eyes, it looked like both Nepgear and Noire were equal in terms of strength.

But of course, she wasn't really concerned about their strengths. She was concerned about herself. Her wound was still bleeding; Noire made a fine cut on it.

"…Ngh…" Uni tried to move, but she couldn't. She lost a few good amounts of blood from her wound already that it made her not able to move normally. But still, she was thinking that she must stop both of them. The method of doing so was not in her mind, though, but still, she had to. Else, one of them would die.

Uni tried to crawl forward. Fortunately, she could bear the pain as she was doing that. Nepgear was doing fine in repelling Noire as she didn't let her get close to Uni as much as possible. Uni crawled a bit closer to them while paying attention to her pain threshold. The computers around them were getting wrecked as Noire and Nepgear clashed, and Uni was hoping that nothing would happen to the barrier outside. As Uni finally got a good look at Nepgear and Noire, she saw Nepgear's beam blade fly up to the ceiling.

"…Ah…!" Uni gasped as she saw Nepgear unarmed, and Noire ready to stab her. "Nepgear…! Sis…!"

But her cries didn't stop Noire, and she pushed her sword towards Nepgear.

"SIIIIIISSS…! NEPGEAR…!"

Uni closed her eyes once more before Noire could stab Nepgear. She couldn't bear to witness what was going to unfold. She sobbed as she fell down on the floor.

Why did this have to happen? What was going on? Why was Noire trying to kill Uni? These questions circled inside Uni's mind, but the answers to those questions? She didn't have it, and she didn't know if she could find the answers either.

"…"

About a minute has passed, but nothing happened. No screams, no sounds, no movements, nothing at all. Uni opened her eyes to see what was happening. To her surprise, she saw Noire pointing her blade at Nepgear's chest, just about an inch away. Both of them were staying still; none of them made a single move.

Uni was relieved that both of them were safe, but them staying still scared her, as she knew who would make the first move will win. She didn't really want any one of them to get killed by the other.

"…Uh…" Uni tried to say something, but her voice failed her. Mostly because of the blood loss she was suffering from her wound. She stared at both Nepgear's and Noire's faces. They were just staring at each other without blinking; it seemed like they were cautious of each other.

Or so Uni thought.

Uni saw Nepgear mumble something, but she didn't quite hear what she said. "…You really are my…" Nepgear then grabbed Noire by the arm, swiftly disarming her. She then locked Noire's arm by twisting it on her back and then flipped Noire upward by tripping her. Noire landed on the ground with her face down, with Nepgear pinning Noire's arm on her back.

"…"

Nepgear didn't hesitate and hit Noire's nape, knocking her out. She then grabbed a cut cord near her and tied Noire's arms and feet to prevent her from moving if she ever wakes up immediately. As she did so, she stood up and sighed.

"…Nep…gear…?"

Nepgear heard a voice. She turned to her side and saw Uni on the floor, bleeding. She ran quickly towards her aid and checked up on her. "Uni! Uni! Are you alright?"

"I… I can manage… myself. How is… sis…?" Uni asked. The wound on her abdomen was gradually taking her consciousness. She needed medical treatment as soon as possible.

"Noire is fine. I just knocked her out, don't worry." Nepgear said. "I'm taking you to the med bay. Hold on." Nepgear carefully lifted Uni up and carried her all the way to the med bay.

Fortunately, there were few to no people in the upper levels of the Basilicom, so Nepgear didn't encounter anyone as she carried Uni along the corridors. She arrived at the med bay quickly and entered the room without second thoughts. Nepgear laid Uni on a medical bed.

"Uni…?" Nepgear called, but Uni didn't answer. She was breathing heavily, and her body was getting cold. She was debating if she should call Kei first and ask for instructions on operating the healing pods, or heal Uni herself. But seeing how Uni's breathing gradually grew heavy by the second, calling Kei and asking for instructions would definitely waste precious time.

And so, Nepgear didn't hesitate and inspected Uni's wound. The cut Uni had in her abdomen was deep, but not too deep. It was a fine cut that she could see her flesh inside.

"I haven't used any healing methods for a long time…" Nepgear was doubting a little about her abilities in healing, but that wasn't really the time for it. Uni's life was at stake here, and she must not mess it up.

And so, Nepgear resolved herself. "Alright, let's do this." Both of Nepgear's hand glowed as she placed them on top of Uni's wound. Suddenly, Uni started to become restless, most likely she was feeling pain as her wounds were closing due to Nepgear's healing. Fortunately, she just stayed on the bed as she winced, which gave Nepgear an idea that Uni was still conscious.

And so, Nepgear concentrated on healing Uni's wound. She could feel her body getting a little hot and heavy as she healed Uni. Uni's wound was closing slowly, probably because Nepgear was getting rusty on healing, or the wound was just that deep. Either way, it could be any of those two.

After more or less half an hour of healing, Uni's wound finally closed, but there was still a trace of the slice on her abdomen. Nepgear was already out of strength as she suddenly fell on her knees, with her sweat running down on her face.

"…Haah… This is as far as I can go…" Nepgear said as she tried to catch her breathing. She then stood up and looked for some bandages in the room. As she found some, she returned to Uni and carefully wrapped it around her waistline with it to cover her wound.

"Uni…?" Nepgear called, but Uni didn't reply. It seemed like she finally lost consciousness after all of those experience earlier, and her breathing was gradually becoming normal. Well, Nepgear really couldn't blame Uni that. She would most likely be the same if she were in Uni's shoes.

With Uni's current situation, Nepgear decided that she should just leave her alone and let her rest. She had other things to do as well, like Noire. Nepgear then left the med bay after doing some additional treatment to Uni and went back to the terminal room. Noire was still unconscious on the floor as Nepgear got inside the room, which made her relieved. It would be bad if Noire woke up when Nepgear wasn't there, after all.

"…"

Nepgear inspected Noire's body to see if there was anything unusual, but she didn't find anything. She was sure that Noire was being controlled, and there was only one person who could do that. But how that person controlled Noire was beyond Nepgear's knowledge anymore.

"…Sis…"

Yes, the person that could possibly control Noire was none other than Nepgear's sister, Neptune. Well, it couldn't be anyone but her, judging from what Nepgear learned days ago when the other CPUs infiltrated Planeptune and took her away. She might've had no idea about how Noire was being controlled, but _someone_ sure might have one. Though that person was most of the time missing and mostly wouldn't be there when needed.

"…Kurome, where the hell are you…?" Nepgear whispered.

Yep, the person needed by Nepgear was Kurome. The person who suddenly disappears and appears only when it was convenient for her.

And that time was one of those times.

Suddenly, a voice spoke in the room. "You called, Nepgear?"

Dark red mist then covered the room for a brief moment, and Kurome appeared in front of Nepgear.

"For the first time, you appear when you're needed." Nepgear commented.

Kurome smirked at that comment. "Really, now?"

Nepgear just sighed. Either way, she was glad that Kurome appeared when she needed her. She then waved her hand as she shrugged the previous topic and directed to her intent. "That aside, I need to know something from you."

"About Noire?" Kurome guessed. Well, it wasn't really a guess; not when Noire was lying on the ground, unconscious, and the room being a complete wreck. Fortunately, some computers were unharmed and still operational.

Nepgear nodded. "Yes. She was being controlled, most likely by sis, but I don't know how did she manage to."

Kurome didn't say anything. A CPU controlling another CPU was definitely not an easy feat, especially when from different nations. But that didn't mean it was _impossible_. Certain requirements should be met before that could happen.

"…" Kurome bit her lip. She more or less had an idea about Nepgear's inquiries, but she was doubting if she should tell her or not.

"Kurome?" Nepgear called.

Kurome didn't realize that she had gone quiet for a while now. "Ah, I was just thinking about that. I don't think I can answer that, though."

Nepgear raised an eyebrow. To her eyes, Kurome was definitely lying. "Are you sure about that?"

"Believe me, Nepgear. Even if I know, it wouldn't matter." Kurome answered. She hoped that Nepgear would drop the subject already.

Nepgear sighed in disappointment. Well, Kurome must've had her reasons why she was hiding that from Nepgear. "Okay then, but can you do something about Noire's condition? It wouldn't be nice if she would be tied up all the time because she was being controlled."

Kurome turned to Noire, who was still unconscious on the ground. She eyed her for a bit before turning back to Nepgear. "Alright, but I'll take her to my dimension. It'll be faster that way."

"Suit yourself." Nepgear said.

After that, Kurome kneeled down beside Noire and touched her forehead. Dark red mist then suddenly covered both of their bodies and they disappeared after a few seconds. Nepgear sighed again, but it was a relief one. That was one problem solved, and the next one was fixing this whole room.

"Alright then, time to-"

Before she could finish what she wanted to say, all the monitors of the computers, including the big screen on the wall, suddenly turned on. Bleeping sounds also rang around the room, with warning signs displayed on the said monitors.

"What the hell is going on?" Nepgear ran to a computer to check what was happening. From the screen, was something Nepgear did not expect to see.

"A System Breach?! How did that happen?!" Nepgear was surprised. She tried to do something, but her access was completely overridden and she could not do a single thing. A system breach was something that could never happen because the barrier's network was a completely different network from each of the nation's own ones. The terminals were independent of their respective nations' networks, and no foreign entity could break through it, not only because it had several layers of security, but also because it didn't have any mainframes outside the nations that could be used as a bridge for hacking.

"If that's the case… then…!" Nepgear's eyes widened as she realized the only method that could be done. She ran through the computers and inspected if there was something unusual about them. "If it can't be done outside, then it could be on the inside!"

Yes, of course. If the system breach was done exactly inside the network, specifically _inside the terminal_ , then that would be possible.

"And to do that… someone must've snuck in here and planted a virus on the terminal…" Nepgear said as she inspected the computers if there were any foreign objects attached to the serial bus ports. But before she could find anything, her phone suddenly rang, indicating that she had an incoming call. She took her phone out to check who was calling and found out that it was Histoire.

Nepgear went out of the room and answered the call, as it was too noisy inside. "Hello? Histoire?"

" _Thank goddess, you answered. Uni wasn't answering my calls."_ Histoire replied. She sounded like she was panicking, and Nepgear had an idea what made Histoire sound like that. _"We have a problem, Nepgear."_

"Yes, I know, Histoire. There's a system breach here in Lastation." Nepgear said. "I don't know how that happened, but this is not the time to be thinking about that."

" _Yes, yes, I know, but that's not the real problem here!"_ Histoire said. _"Lastation's terminal has been disabled; your barrier is going down, and the breach from there is attempting to break here in Lowee and in Leanbox too!"_

Nepgear was surprised to hear that. "What?!" The barrier going down was the last thing Nepgear wanted to happen. "Can you do something on your end? My access here has been neutralized and I can't do anything from here."

" _I will develop a kill code to completely wipe off the system, but we will need to remove Lastation's terminal from the whole network. We can't risk Lowee and Leanbox to be compromised as well."_ Histoire said. _"It's a good thing that I created a backup of each of the nation's initial settings as a failsafe. We can use this to restore Lastation's terminal after we do a complete wipe."_

That really didn't sound good for Lastation, but what Histoire said was true. They could not risk the safety of Lowee and Leanbox, else everything that they did would be in vain.

"Alright, please do quick. I will try to find where the breach occurred and destroy it." Nepgear said. "I know it wouldn't solve the problem, but that should prevent the virus from coming back after the wipe."

" _Yes, please do so."_ Histoire said. _"I will call you back when we finish the kill code."_

Histoire hung up after that. Nepgear then hit her cheeks and headed back into the terminal room. She inspected each of the computers once more, but she somehow couldn't find it.

"Damn it! Where is it?!" Nepgear had grown frustrated with the current situation. She had to find that breach before Histoire could finish the kill code, and judging from Histoire's abilities, she could develop it in no time. Histoire had been managing the three nation's barriers for too long that she could already see it on her palm.

But of course, Nepgear didn't give up. She inspected the computers once more; each and every computer in the room. After a short while, she landed on a computer which was displaying something on the screen. What was displayed on it was the same as the others, but it was also displaying something else.

"This is it! How the hell did I miss this?!" On the screen, it was displaying 'Upload Complete'. This gave Nepgear an idea that the foreign entity was inserted in this terminal, and the virus spread out through the network. Nepgear then inspected the serial buses to see if there was anything attached, and yes, she found a flash drive stuck in one of the ports. Nepgear immediately pulled the flash drive out and destroyed it.

"That's one problem solved." Nepgear said. Of course, as she said earlier, that wouldn't solve the problem. And it really didn't. Now, all she had to do was wait for Histoire's call to give her the kill code.

But of course, she didn't have time to rest as her phone rang again. Nepgear took her phone out again to see who the caller was, and found out that it was Kei.

"Ms. Kei! We have a problem!" Nepgear said as she didn't wait for Kei to speak up first.

" _Yes, I am aware. Our network has been breached, and the barrier is going down. Histoire already informed me, and I'm remotely trying to help her in severing Lastation out of the entire network."_ Kei said. Nepgear was surprised that Kei sounded so calm despite the situation, but that wasn't really the time for her to be wondering about that. _"But that's not the reason why I called you."_

"There's something else?" Nepgear was confused.

With that, Kei's tone suddenly changed into a distressed one. _"Yeah. The lookout guard who is watching Planeptune's border just told me that Neptune's army is already heading towards Lastation."_

After hearing that, Nepgear's heartbeat stopped for a short moment and she almost dropped her phone.

" _ **She's going to destroy Lastation, again."**_

* * *

 **There you go guys! Chapter 12!**

 **Again, I apologize if my updating was getting slow. I was looking for a job in the past few days and still doing it currently, so yeah, I had less time to work on this. If money just comes to my door knocking without me working, I'd write fics 24/7 hehe.**

 **Anyway, how did you guys like the chapter? We're near the epilogue! The final battle is coming!**

 **Until next time, see you guys!**


	13. End of the Line

**Hello guys! Time for chapter 13!**

 **I'm sorry that it took me two months to update. I got really stuck on work so yeah, I had less time to write this.**

 **Alright, this will be the second to the last chapter! YES! FINALLY! THE FIC IS ENDING! (Is that supposed to be a happy thing?)**

 **Anyway, I thank all the people who stick with me up until to this point! I love you guys! You guys are the best!**

 **To Autumnfearie and Guest: I am not sure why you guys are asking about IF's attitude towards Neptune but, I guess I'll just assume that you didn't know about it. IF and Compa did NOT meet Neptune in this story personally. This is a continuation of my previous fic "Change", whereas Neptune already "died". Also, if you go back to previous chapters, Neptune's "death" wasn't disclosed to the public.**

 **Onto the chapter now, enjoy!**

* * *

Lowee – Basilicom.

Inside the terminal room in the Basilicom, Histoire was sitting on top of a platform, below a floating crystal that took shape of a power button, with several virtual windows around her. She interfaced herself with the barrier's network and directly worked on a crucial job. Mina was also present in the room, sitting in front of a computer, working also. The two of them had different roles: Histoire was trying to remove Lastation from the whole network, with Kei's help from Lastation, while Mina was working on monitoring the security layers and preventing any contact of breach from occurring.

"What the hell is going on?!" A voice suddenly spoke in the room as the door opened.

Mina paused whatever she was doing and turned to the person who just entered the room. "Lady Blanc! You're finally here." She said as she sighed in relief. "Lastation's terminal was breached, and their barrier has been taken down as well. Ms. Histoire is working on severing Lastation's terminal out of the entire network to prevent the virus from spreading, and I'm working on reinforcing the firewalls."

"What?!" Blanc was surprised to hear that. "How did that happen?"

Mina swung her head. "We don't know, but looking into it, there must be an inside job."

"Goddess damn it…!" Blanc cursed as she clenched her fists. "Is Noire awake yet?"

"We don't know. Uni didn't answer any of our calls, but Nepgear did, though she didn't mention anything about Noire nor Uni." Mina said. "We can just assume that something happened to Uni as well."

Blanc didn't like that. While it wasn't her nation that was in grave danger, she was still worried about Lastation, especially Noire. Losing Noire or any of them would definitely be a great disadvantage against Neptune.

"I'm calling Vert." Blanc said as she hurried to a console and made a call. Shortly after, on the big screen, Vert's image appeared.

" _I am aware of the breach in Lastation. Me and Chika here are working on preventing the virus from breaking into our terminal."_ Vert said as soon as she accepted the call. On the screen, there was another person present, who was working on a computer. Blanc thought that that person must be Chika as Vert said. _"How about on your end?"_

Blanc was relieved to hear that. "Histoire here is trying to take Lastation's terminal out of the network, with Mina here improving the security." Blanc said. "We can't contact Noire nor Uni, and Lastation's barrier is disabled. Only Nepgear is reachable there."

" _Noire is not awake yet?!"_ Vert was startled as she heard that news. _"If Lastation's barrier is down, there is a hundred percent that Neptune will invade!"_

Blanc's eyes widened as she heard that. If the barrier indeed was down, it was only a matter of time until Neptune finds that out and launch an attack.

"Actually, Neptune is already heading towards Lastation, with her entire army." Histoire said while still working on her job. "Kei messaged me about that just a few moments ago. She also thinks that the breach in Lastation was Neptune's doing, but she still didn't know how she managed to do that."

Blanc wasn't surprised anymore. With Neptune's planned assault right after Lastation's barrier got taken down, it wouldn't take an intelligent person to deduce that it was her doing all along. But yes, the biggest question was how did she manage to do that, when no foreign people could enter Lastation.

There was silence after that. None of them had a good plan to execute about the current situation.

Except for one.

"Alright, Lastation's terminal is cut off from our network." Histoire said as the virtual windows around her disappeared. Mina, Blanc, and Vert sighed in relief as they heard that news. It looked like Lowee and Leanbox was safe from any hacking. "I'm going to develop a kill code to wipe out the operating system of Lastation's terminal. It would take a while, but not that long, so Blanc and Vert, can I request you to head over to Lastation and help Nepgear defend?"

That suggestion didn't seem to be liked by Blanc. "What?! Even if we're safe for now that Lastation is out of our network, there's still a chance that we might get attacked!" Blanc protested. While of course, Lastation was in grave danger, Blanc's top priority was still her own nation.

But Vert had different opinion to the matter at hand. _"Yes, that's true, but we can't contact Noire nor Uni, and Nepgear alone is the only one defending Lastation. She wouldn't be able to fight off Neptune's army, let alone Neptune, all by herself!"_ Vert said. _"And I know you already realized this, but we're surely to meet the same fate as Lastation if Neptune breaks through our defenses, which is likely to happen."_

"But still-"

Blanc didn't manage to finish her sentence anymore, as it looked like nobody would agree with her. Vert had this look of concern, while Histoire and Mina looked like they were pleading for her help.

Blanc could just gulp.

" _Blanc… please?"_ Vert pleaded.

Blanc gritted her teeth a little. She really couldn't refuse that if Vert said please, and the looks she was receiving from Mina and Histoire.

"Ah, geez! Okay, okay! I get it!" Blanc slumped her shoulders as she finally gave up. The other girls were relieved after hearing that answer. "Let's do this, then!"

" _Thank you, Blanc."_ Vert said as she sighed in relief.

Blanc didn't say anything as a reply. Well, she really didn't have anything in mind to say.

"The barrier's passage way to Lastation is closing down now. I suggest you two to pass through that way in case of any intruder that might attack." Histoire said. "Don't worry about your way back once you're outside the barriers. I will do something about that later after we reconnect Lastation's terminal to our network."

Blanc nodded and then headed for the door. She then went out of the terminal room after bidding goodbye to Mina and Histoire. Without further ado, she went out of the Basilicom and flew towards Lastation after transforming.

"…On our way back, huh…?" Blanc mumbled as she flew in the skies. "We ain't coming back anyway, not until we defeat Neptune."

Blanc clenched her fists as she increased her flight speed. She could already see the passageway to Lastation from her position.

"We can't keep this up forever. We have to end this now."

Blanc furtherly increased her flight speed. After a few moments, she got out of the passageway, but she still wasn't in Lastation. She understood that, as she saw the passageway slowly disappearing behind her.

But that wasn't really the time to be thinking about that. She opened her comms and called Vert. After a few moments, the call was picked up. _"Blanc?"_

"I got out my passageway to Lastation, but I haven't arrived there yet." Blanc said. "Let's meet up somewhere else first."

" _Alright, I just got out of my passageway myself as well."_ Vert replied. _"I know a good place. I'll send you the rendezvous point in a moment."_

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – Basilicom.

Inside the Basilicom, Nepgear was talking to someone on the phone as she stared outside the windows. She didn't have a pleasant look on her face as she saw Lastation's barrier slowly going down. That was one reason why she wasn't pleased, but there was another one.

Through the phone, the person she was talking to was Kei, who was at the southern part of Lastation at the moment because of work. She just informed Nepgear about the greatest threat they would face.

And of course, it was none other than…

"Ms. Kei, how long till my sis… Neptune… reaches here?"

Yes, the greatest threat was Neptune. At the same moment, Neptune and her army were heading towards Lastation, with obvious objective of invading the nation. Why else would she bring an entire army if she wasn't going to invade?

" _It wouldn't take her five minutes."_ Kei replied.

Nepgear clicked her tongue as she heard that. There was no time to prepare for a counterattack, and she was all by herself as Noire and Uni was out of commission.

"How about the evacuation of civilians?" Nepgear asked.

Kei answered immediately. _"You don't need to worry about that. I've already sent an evacuation order the moment I received the intel about Neptune's invasion. Most of the people, if not all, should've gone to the underground shelters or got out of Lastation already. My job here is almost done, so I'm heading there as well as soon as I finish it."_

Nepgear sighed in relief. That was one worry out of the , two, because she learned that Lastation was already severed from the barrier network.

"Alright. Uni is still asleep. She's still exhausted because she overworked herself, so I'm going to move her to a safe place." Nepgear said, though she lied quite a bit about Uni being exhausted. Kei didn't need to hear what just happened earlier; at the very least, not right now. She just hoped that Kei would buy that lie. "And don't worry about Noire. Kuro—Uzume took her somewhere safe. Though I apologize in advance because I wouldn't be able to prevent casualties and damages in the city."

Kei was silent for a bit, but then she sighed in relief through the phone afterward. _"I see. I don't know who that Uzume is, but it seems like you trust this person very much, so that's good to hear. And don't worry about the damage; we'll rebuild Lastation again."_ She said. _"Though I ask of you, please take care of Uni."_

Nepgear smiled awkwardly. For some reason, she had a feeling that Kei saw through her lie, but didn't bother asking about it because, of course, it wasn't really the time for that. She also just remembered that she hadn't introduced Uzume to Kei yet. And yep, she was also happy because Kei trusted her to look after Uni.

"I will." Nepgear replied. "I have to go. Best of luck to you, Ms. Kei."

" _Best of luck to you too."_ Kei said and she ended the call.

Nepgear didn't waste any time and immediately headed to the med bay. As soon as she got inside, she looked for Uni. She found her still unconscious on the bed, and it looked like she wasn't going to wake up any sooner.

She had less than five minutes to move Uni to a safe place before Neptune arrives. And within that time, the only safe place she could think of was…

"…Damn it. If I had predicted this, I would've told Kurome to take Uni away too…"

Yep. Kurome's dimension. Taking Uni to the shelters herself would take a lot of time, and Neptune would have already destroyed Lastation before she could return.

But of course, this wasn't the time to be debating. She already knew what was more important. And so, Nepgear carried Uni in her arms as she picked her up and headed for the exit, but before she could leave the room, dark red mist suddenly appeared in front of her. Shortly after that, Kurome showed up.

"Nepgear, I forgot some-"

Nepgear didn't even let Kurome finish her sentence and spoke, "Thank Goddess, Kurome, you came back."

Kurome raised an eyebrow in confusion, but then seeing Uni in Nepgear's arms, with a bandage around her waist, she more or less could've guessed what Nepgear was about to ask her. Actually, she already did.

"I get it. You want me to take her to my dimension, right?" Kurome said.

Nepgear nodded. Kurome sighed before touching Uni's forehead. Dark red mist then escaped Kurome's hand which covered Uni's whole body and after a short while, Uni disappeared.

"Thanks. I need to go out there and defend Lastation. Nep—sis is going to attack." Nepgear was about to leave but she was stopped by Kurome.

"Wait." Kurome called. Nepgear turned back to Kurome with a confused look on her face. "I am aware of that, that's why I came back here."

Nepgear raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"I forgot to give you this." Kurome raised her right hand, then dark red mist appeared on it for a few seconds before it disappeared to thin air. But her hand was no longer empty; she was now holding a sword. It was the sword that Nepgear completely recognized as she held on it many times already.

Nepgear narrowed her eyes as she stared at Kurome. "…Why are you giving me that now?"

Kurome didn't flinch and just stared back at Nepgear's eyes. "Your decision will decide fate of this world, Nepgear." She said. "If I could just…" Kurome paused for a bit.

"…Just…?" Nepgear didn't quite get what she meant by that.

Kurome swung her head. "No, nothing. Nevermind that." She said and then stuck the sword on the floor. "Just take the sword. I will tell Noire and Uni to come back here when they recover." She then disappeared into thin air, leaving Nepgear and the sword.

Nepgear picked the sword up. She stared at it for a few seconds before moving out of the Basilicom. As she ran through the corridors, she found out that the staff had already left the Basilicom, as she couldn't see anyone as she got out. That was a good thing, of course.

Though what Kurome just said earlier somehow made Nepgear a little concerned.

"Gehaburn… huh…?"

Yes, the sword Kurome just gave Nepgear was named Gehaburn. It was known as the sword that can kill divine and cursed beings. And also known to be strengthened by consuming the lives of CPUs. Why Kurome gave Nepgear this sword was really unclear, but…

"Gehaburn… Gamindustri… Neptune…"

Giving it a little thought, Nepgear already understood why. To end this war, they had to defeat Neptune. But a question would rise from that. And that would be, how to defeat Neptune? Surely she wouldn't just let Nepgear stab her with that sword, of course. That is, if Nepgear could even do it.

"…"

Nepgear discarded all she had in mind and transformed after dematerializing Gehaburn; headed out for battle. Planeptune was located around southwest of Lastation, so she headed for that direction. Not long after that, she could already see a lot of flying people heading for Lastation. And those people weren't just any people; they were the striking image of her sister, Neptune.

"…Ngh…"

Nepgear bit her lip. Her hands were shaking and she could feel a chill down her spine. She didn't deny what she was feeling as she saw her sister's look-alikes.

Fear. She was afraid of her sister.

Of course, she would be. For all those years before that she stayed behind her sister's back, and all these years that she yearned for her return after losing her, fighting her would be the scariest thing that she could ever do.

As this fight wouldn't just be a simple one.

Nepgear swung her head and took a deep breath. She had to do this. Even if she had no responsibility to defend Lastation, at the very least, she could do this for Uni's sake, and her alone. As soon as she calmed down even just a little bit, she prepared her weapon and intercepted the clones.

"…!"

Nepgear charged her weapon and as soon as it was ready, she fired it off to the clones from a distance. Some clones got evaporated instantly, and the others managed to evade it. As the invaders were getting close, Nepgear retreated a little to gain some distance and charge her weapon again.

"…Tch…!" Nepgear clicked her tongue as she saw the clones scattering. They had started to wreak havoc in the city, and yes, Nepgear couldn't keep them at bay alone. She was the only one defending, after all. And if she fired a very strong energy to them, she would just be helping them in destroying Lastation.

And so, all she could do was snipe them from a distance. Fortunately, her attacks were hitting, but their numbers weren't reducing at all.

"…!"

All of a sudden, Nepgear felt danger from behind her. She instantly turned around and blocked an incoming attack from a clone.

"…Ah…!"

Nepgear suddenly lost her strength as she saw the face of her attacker. Even though she knew it was a clone, as it didn't have any expressions on her face, it still looked like her sister.

"…AH!"

Nepgear was pushed away by the clone as her arms went numb all of a sudden. She tried to compose herself back, but before she could do so, two clones appeared behind her and attempted to kick her upward. Fortunately, even without composing her body, she managed to bring her weapon behind her and blocked the incoming kicks, but still she was blown upward.

"…Ngh…!" Nepgear rolled her body forward to keep her balance. She saw three more clones heading her way from above.

Nepgear didn't waste time and reversed her way of handling her weapon. She then spun sideward and sliced the three clones who was trying to attack her. The clones' blood was spilled on Nepgear's weapon and arms as they got cut in two.

"A…Ah…!" Nepgear groaned as she saw blood on her blade and hands. In her mind, she just killed her sister, and that thought really scarred her heart, like claws just pierced through it.

She knew it. Even though she knew that the ones she just killed were fakes, the fact that those clones looked like her sister was enough to make her believe that she just murdered Neptune.

As she was lamenting with what she just did, she didn't realize that several clones were already heading towards her.

"…Ah…!" It was already too late when Nepgear realized that she was in danger. The clones were just a few meters away from her, ready to attack her, but before they could get close to her, several spears dropped down from above and impaled the incoming attackers.

She turned around to see who did that, but she only saw another batch of fake Neptunes heading her way, but before they could get close, a white flash suddenly passed through them and they got sliced into two.

"Ah…!"

Later after that, Nepgear saw another crew of clones coming from the side, but then from afar, someone just dropped down from above and killed them. That said someone then approached Nepgear after dispatching the enemies nearby.

"Vert…"

Yes, the person who just arrived was Vert, the CPU of Leanbox. The reason why she was here, was unknown to Nepgear, but she could guess that it was Histoire's request. Histoire was always worried about her well-being, after all.

"Are you alright, Nepgear?" Vert asked. Nepgear just nodded as a reply, which made Vert sigh in relief. "Where is Noire and Uni? We can't contact them."

Before Nepgear could answer, she saw another batch of fakes heading their way from behind Vert. Nepgear shoved Vert away in order to intercept the fakes, but before she could get close, someone just rose from below and sliced them apart.

"What the hell are you two doing?! Stop spacing out!"

"Blanc…!" Nepgear was surprised. She didn't really expect Blanc, of all people, to come here, after what happened back when recovered Noire from Celestia.

Vert sighed in relief. "Well then, I guess this isn't really the time to chat." She said and then prepared her weapon. "If you're having a hard time fighting your sister, you can just sit out and let us handle the rest." She then flew away, leaving Nepgear alone.

Nepgear could just stare at Blanc and Vert fighting off the invaders. It may have looked like it was easy for them, but the numbers of their enemies weren't decreasing at all. She knew that they would just tire themselves out before Neptune comes here or before Histoire could finish the kill code and restore Lastation's terminal.

Either way, Blanc and Vert, possibly Noire and Uni too, would get killed and Nepgear would be taken away, if they fail to restore Lastation's defense system. But that comes after they defeat Neptune, of course.

"I… don't want that…" Nepgear mumbled to herself. At the very least, she didn't want anything to happen to Uni. Nepgear also had no idea what could happen to herself if Neptune caught her after she ran away from her.

If they were going to fall anyway, she'd rather die fighting than die running. But of course, Nepgear had no plans of getting herself, Uni, nor any of her comrades killed.

Not on her watch.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – Basilicom.

Inside the terminal room in the Basilicom, Histoire and Mina were working tirelessly on their respective duties ever since the attack in Lastation started. Histoire was still working on the kill code that would wipe out the entire operating system of Lastation's terminal, while Mina was working on removing the remnants of the virus after Lastation was severed from the entire network.

"…"  
The room was quiet, except for the sounds of the computers and the continuous tapping of the keyboards. The two didn't even try to talk to each other as they needed to focus on their work. Time was of essence, after all.

Not too long after that, the door opened, but they didn't even bother checking who entered the room.

"Ms. His-"

The person who just entered the room was a girl, wearing a maid uniform. She had a long brown hair with matching color of eyes, and she was carrying a tray of tea.

Her name was Financier, and she was the lead maid of Lowee's Basilicom.

She interrupted herself before she could complete what she was about to say. When she saw Mina and Histoire too focused on what they were doing, she decided that she didn't need to bother them. She didn't know what exactly was going on, but as she realized that Blanc was nowhere to be found, she assumed that it was something big.

"…"

Financier quietly walked towards the desk which was a little far away from Mina and Histoire. She then placed the tray of tea on it and silently left the room.

As Financier stepped out of the room, she walked away without looking back, with only one single prayer in her mind.

"Lady Blanc… please keep everyone safe…"

 **~o~O~o~**

Lowee – city.

Despite the crisis that was happening in Lastation, the everyday life of the Lowee citizens continued. Obviously because the current incident wasn't publicized yet, so the people weren't aware of what was going on in Lastation.

In the middle of the streets, there were two girls walking side by side, seemingly just hanging around together. They were getting a few attentions from the people, most probably because of what they were wearing. It was snowing all over the place and what the two were wearing wasn't appropriate for that kind of environment.

"…"

After a short while of walking, they stopped on a pedestrian crossing as there was a red light in front of them.

"You know; it's been a while since we've seen the CPUs." One of the girls with orange hair said. "Should we pay them a visit, CC2?"

The other girl, who was named CC2, replied, "I don't know, Marvy. They must be a little busy, given to what happened days ago."

Marvy just scratched her cheek. Well, what CC2 said was true. Lowee suffered little damage compared to other nations when Neptune launched an all-out attack, but still it was enough for Blanc to pay attention to.

"You may be right, but it wouldn't hurt to say hello to them. We can offer help as well." Marvy said.

As the pedestrian light in front of them turned green, they crossed the road.

"I guess so…"

After that, they changed their destination to the Basilicom. Good thing they weren't heading to the opposite direction else they would be going back to where they came from earlier.

They arrived at their destination in no more than ten minutes of walk. They haven't heard about anything ever since they took Nepgear out of Planeptune.

"Let's go see Ms. Histoire first." Marvy said. CC2 nodded and they entered the Basilicom. They talked to the receptionist first before going to where Histoire was, which was most likely to be inside the terminal room.

After a short moment of walking, they arrived in front of a door with a power button symbol on it. The symbol was glowing, indicating that the room was operational. They didn't waste time and entered the room.

"Pardon for the intrusion…" Both of them said in unison. They ran their eyes around the room and looked for Histoire. They easily spotted Histoire not too far away from their position, together with another person working with her.

They silently approached Histoire and called, "Ms. Histoire…?"

Histoire jolted a little and then paused whatever she was doing in front of the computer. She then turned to the newcomers. "Oh, Marvy, CC2. It's been a while."

The other person working with Histoire stopped as well and looked at their direction. "Ms. Histoire, who are they?"

"Oh, yes, you haven't met them yet." Histoire said as she turned to her companion. "This is MarvelousAQL and CyberConnect2, or for short, Marvy and CC2." She introduced.

Histoire then turned back to Marvy and CC2. "The person with me here is Nishizawa Mina. She's Blanc's Oracle."

The two stared at Histoire for a short moment, probably because they didn't quite understand what she meant by Oracle, before turning to Mina. Either way, they didn't bother asking about that as they could guess what she could do.

"It's nice to meet you, Mina!" The two said.

"Likewise." Mina softly said and smiled at them.

Now that the introduction was finished, Marvy and CC2 decided to go on with what they came here for. "You two seemed to be busy, what's going on?" Marvy asked.

"Ah, yes, I haven't told you yet that Lastation is currently under attack by Neptune." Histoire calmly said as she went back to her work. "For some unknown reasons, few days after the CPUs recovered Noire in Celestia, Lastation's security has been breached, and their barrier was taken down."

"Lady Noire is back?!" The two were surprised and glad to hear that.

Histoire jolted a little. "Y-Yes, but she was unconscious when they found her. Up until now, there's no news about her waking up." She said. "Lastation has been severed from our barrier network and we're currently developing a kill code to wipe the operating system of their terminal and reset it so we can bring the barrier up again."

Marvy and CC2 didn't really understand what she meant by that, but the fact that Lastation was under attack was enough for them to realize that the nation was in danger.

"Then we should go to Lastation and help Uni! She can't defend Lastation alone." Marvy suggested.

Histoire swung her head. "I couldn't contact Uni, but I managed to get in touch with Nepgear. She's in Lastation right now."

"Isn't that… bad news?" CC2 asked. Of course, it would be, given that they just took Nepgear away from Planeptune, and Neptune attacking Lastation, the risk of Nepgear getting taken away would be off the charts.

"Yes, I know. That's why I sent Blanc and Vert to Lastation to help Nepgear." Histoire said.

Marvy and CC2 looked at each other and then nodded. "Then we have to go to Lastation as well. More hands mean higher chances of success." Marvy said.

But Histoire swung her head again in disagreement. "I'm afraid you won't be able to go to Lastation right now." She said. "As I said earlier, Lastation is severed from the barrier network. Means that the passage to Lastation is also closed down."

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

"For now, please stay on standby. We might be safe for now, but who knows when we will get attacked as well." Histoire suggested. "If that time comes, we will need your strength to protect Lowee and Leanbox."

Marvy and CC2 gulped. That sounded like a really big responsibility, but they couldn't say no to that. If ever Neptune manages to break through their defenses, Lowee and Leanbox, or most likely the entire world, would be on Neptune's hands, and they absolutely cannot let that happen.

"You can count on us, Ms. Histoire."

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – City.

The state of the nation couldn't be described as a peaceful one. Everywhere in the city, lots of explosions could be seen. In the airspace, there were three people fighting off an army of a hundred, or even a thousand invaders. The attackers had the striking image of the former Planeptune's CPU, Neptune, and the three people fighting them off were none other than the CPU of Lowee, Leanbox, and the current CPU of Planeptune, Blanc, Vert, and Nepgear, respectively.

And from the looks of it, it looked like they were having a hard time repelling the invaders as they couldn't keep up with their increasing numbers. Most of the invaders were already wreaking havoc in the city while they were still preoccupied with the enemies in front of them.

If this kept going on, Lastation would be leveled down to the ground before they could even retaliate.

"Nepgear!" Blanc called from afar as she sliced two clones in front of her. "We'll handle things here. You go down and take out those things wrecking the city!" She then charged to another incoming battalion of Neptune clones along with Vert.

Nepgear didn't manage to say anything as reply as Blanc already made her way out, so she just complied with her request and went down. She could see lots of her sister's clones destroying the city, from small houses to tall buildings; as in everything.

"…" She bit her lip as she flew down. Her hands were shaking, but she set her mind that this wasn't the time to hesitate. They would be killed if they wouldn't do anything.

And so, even if it pained her heart, she had no choice but to pull the trigger and kill her 'sister'.

"…!" Every time she pulled her weapon's trigger, and every time she killed a clone, she felt like her heart was getting stabbed. Of course, even if they were just clones, just the fact that they looked like Neptune, it really hurt Nepgear.

She didn't realize that her tears were already falling down from her eyes until she momentarily lost the ability to breathe, which made her grip on her chest. The moment she felt her tears fall down from her eyes, she wiped it instantly. She couldn't be feeling like that at a time like this; it'll get herself killed.

Before she could make another move, she something… or _someone_ drop down from above. That someone passed by right in front of her and crashed into a nearby building, resulting it to be reduced to the ground. A big dust screen was created as the infrastructure was destroyed, but as soon as it disappeared, Nepgear saw who the person was.

"Blanc?!"

Yes, the person who just crashed down was Blanc. Nepgear then immediately turned around to where Blanc came from and saw Vert heading towards her way, though it didn't seem like it was intentional. As she realized that, Nepgear positioned herself properly and caught Vert, but the force was too strong that she was blown away with her, crashing into another building right next to where Blanc crashed.

"Ngh… Ah…!" Nepgear groaned in pain as her back collided with the building. Good thing that she crashed from the roof, though still she broke through several floors down.

"Ugh… damn it…" Vert winced. She then turned around and saw Nepgear behind her, who was holding her. "Ah… I'm sorry, Nepgear. I got caught off-guard."

Nepgear didn't particularly care about that though. "What the hell happened?"

Vert's eyes narrowed a bit before answering her question. "Neptune is here."

Nepgear's eyes widened and she gasped.

"Don't go out. We will take care of her." Vert said as she broke away from Nepgear.

But of course, Nepgear didn't quite like that proposition. "B-But… if she's-"

"I know. We can no longer keep her clones from destroying Lastation, but if we don't defeat her, we are all going to die." Vert said as she turned around. "Until you finally find your will to fight… or kill your sister, I suggest you stay here." She then went out of the building via where they crashed.

Nepgear just stayed at her place as she stared at the hole on the ceiling, which was open all the way to the rooftop. Vert's words were too heavy for her to keep in mind.

Kill her sister? She could barely even hold her ground against the clones, how much more against the real one? There was just no way that she could kill her sister, let alone even exchange blows with her.

That was what she had in her heart.

But if she wouldn't do anything, Blanc, Vert, Uni, and Noire would be killed, and she would be taken away. She didn't have any idea about what could happen if they fail to defeat Neptune.

Nepgear didn't know what to do. Her mind was in disarray; she couldn't think what would be the best for her, and for everyone.

But she had to decide soon. Lastation's destruction wouldn't wait for her.

 **~o~O~o~**

Vert just got out of the building where she crashed and saw a lot of Neptune clones circling around the airspace. Some of them were already heading towards the center and the other side of the city, but she couldn't do anything about those for now as her eyes were glued onto a certain someone.

"Neptune…!"

Yes, the person who Vert was staring at was Neptune. Not just any clone, but the real one. Vert knew that as she could completely distinguish the real one from the clones judging from the outfit. The real one was wearing a much darker purple palette and more purple linings compared to the clones.

She looked around for a bit, trying to look for Blanc, but she couldn't find her anywhere. Either way, she had no time to spare for that; she had to keep her attention to Neptune.

"Tch…" She clicked her tongue. How did it come to this? That was the question that she had in her mind. If they just realized their mistakes a decade ago, things wouldn't have come down to this. But she couldn't take it back now; it would be a great disgrace for her.

It looked like Neptune wasn't aware of her presence yet, but Vert just assumed that Neptune did. Neptune was just floating in midair while she let her army wreak havoc in the city. Vert summoned a spear from her right hand and took a stable stance to throw her spear.

"…"

She carefully positioned her arm with the spear as she pinned her attention to Neptune. She was trying to gain momentum and as she did so, she threw her spear upward, directly to Neptune.

"…!"

Vert was surprised with what happened next. She didn't see her spear impale Neptune and instead, her spear just disappeared to thin air suddenly. She was a little bit far away so she didn't quite understand what just happened.

"Damn it…!" Without any options left, Vert summoned two spears from both of her hands and charged directly to Neptune. As she got close, she spun around and delivered a heavy slash, but her attack was effortlessly parried by Neptune's sword.

"My, my, you're a little aggressive today, Vert." Neptune whispered as she smiled sinisterly.

Vert just gritted her teeth as she locked weapons with Neptune. She hated to admit it, but Neptune's strength was way out of her league. Vert was getting pushed back even though Neptune was only using her sword with a single hand.

"Why… are you doing this…?" Vert asked.

With that question asked, Neptune's smile disappeared. Vert suddenly felt chills down her spine as she saw Neptune's expressionless face, with her mind telling her to get away from her.

But she didn't manage to move a single muscle, as if she was paralyzed. Neptune's presence was too intimidating that even being near her made Vert lose her strength.

Neptune took advantage of that and quickly did an upward spinning slash, which made Vert accidentally let go of her spears.

"Wha-?!"

But before Vert could react, Neptune grabbed her by the neck and gripped on it, almost destroying her throat. Vert struggled to free herself, but to no avail as Neptune's strength was too much for her to handle.

"Akh-!" Vert couldn't breathe anymore. If this continued, her throat would be destroyed in no time.

Fortunately, it didn't come down to that, as suddenly an axe was heading towards Neptune from below, which prompted the Purple CPU to let Vert go and evade it. Vert started to fall down to the ground, but halfway there, she was caught by Blanc who was rising from the wrecked building down below.

Blanc immediately flew away from Neptune as soon as she caught Vert, who somehow was struggling to catch her breathing, and landed on the roof of a nearby building.

"Vert, are you okay?!" Blanc asked, but Vert didn't manage to reply properly and just nodded. After a short moment, Vert's breathing was gradually returning to normal.

"I'm sorry, I got caught off-guard."

Blanc sighed. "What the hell are you thinking, trying to fight Neptune alone?" She asked.

Vert bit her lip. It wasn't like she wanted to do it, but she just had to. "We have to defeat Neptune right here, and right now. Else, Gamindustri will fall on her palms."

Blanc didn't reply. Of course, she knew that. That was why they decided to come here in Lastation and defend the nation in Noire's place. Because for sure, if Neptune successfully invaded Lastation, sooner or later, Leanbox and Lowee would be next. Even with their barrier up, they were sure that Neptune could break inside as she did to Lastation.

"I know that." Blanc answered. She then looked up to the skies and saw Neptune just staring at them, while more clones were heading towards the city. They didn't have time to worry about those things as Neptune herself was already a problem to them.

Blanc then remembered something important. "Where's Nepgear?"

Vert broke away from Blanc and stood up. "I told her to stay out of battle until she finally decides to fight Neptune."

Blanc's eyes widened.

"Well, I guess it's better than making an enemy out of her." Blanc said. True, Neptune was already a handful to deal with, and if Nepgear would be caught, they could expect that she would be used by Neptune to fight them, and that was the last thing they wanted to happen.

The two of them then turned to Neptune, who still hadn't moved a single action. It seemed like she was waiting for them to confront her.

"It's time to end this."

 **~o~O~o~**

Kurome's dimension.

A place where nothing normal could be seen. This place was devoid of humans. Every direction you turn your eyes to, nothing but ruined civilization was present. As the person who claimed that this was _her_ dimension, she said that this place was like the fusion of her original dimension and what she wished for it. Sinister, wasn't it? Given that this place was a total wreckage.

Among the wrecked infrastructures, there was one tower that stood still on a certain floating terrain. It wasn't really in a good condition, but nonetheless still sturdy. Inside that tower, on the top floor, there was someone standing in the middle of a certain dark room. As for that person's identity, since there were no living humans present in this dimension, it couldn't be anyone other than the person who claimed that this was her dimension.

Kurome. Ankokuboshi Kurome, or originally known as Tennouboshi Uzume.

Why was she in a place like this? Nobody knew aside from herself only. The room was devoid of light, but for some reason, it didn't bother her.

"…"

Kurome clenched her fists as she stared on a certain object on the floor. Even without any source of light, it seemed like she could see properly in the dark. There were carvings on the object she was staring at, and that was the thing that really had her attention.

"…"

She then turned around and walked away from that object. Ultimately, she exited the vicinity and flew away from the terrain. Her next destination was the place where she kept Noire and Uni, as she had a feeling that either of them, or both of them, would wake up soon.

After a short moment, she arrived at a terrain where a building that looked like some sort of castle was erected. The building was in borderline good condition, despite the whole dimension being a lost civilization.

She then entered the castle and navigated through the dark corridors. She didn't have any problems being in the dark as she knew this place like the back of her hand, and she could go to her destination even with her eyes closed. Shortly after a minute of walking, she arrived at a certain room. Inside, there were two people lying on the floor, with some sort of dimmed light covering their bodies. The two people were the CPU and CPU candidate of Lastation, Noire and Uni, respectively. Kurome brought them here as per Nepgear's request because Lastation was under attack by Neptune, and unconscious CPUs would prove no help in defending the nation.

"…"

She stared at the two. Comparing the two, Uni was in a worse condition than her sister, because of the bandage she had around her waist. Kurome didn't even try to touch that as she wasn't really an expert when it comes to healing.

"Haah…" She sighed. Things were really getting out of hand. Actually, she should've expected this one. But either way, she wouldn't be able to interfere. One reason was she wasn't tangible in their dimension, and the other one was…

"…" Kurome bit her lip. Obviously, she didn't like what she just thought.

As she was trying to forget whatever she had in mind, she heard a groaning voice. She turned to where it came from and saw Noire slowing sitting up while rubbing her temples.

"Ugh… where am I…?"

Kurome walked towards Noire and sat down beside her. "You're finally awake."

Noire turned to Kurome. "Uzume…" She said. "What is… going on…? Where am I….?"

"You've been here before." Kurome answered. Noire then inspected the walls and the ceiling, and yes, she completely recognized this place. It was the place where they first met Kurome.

"Okay… but why am I here…? I remember… nothing…" Noire tried to recall her memories, but for some reason, she couldn't remember anything. "I… I'm sure… something happened… when I… stayed behind Planeptune…."

Kurome sighed as she crossed her arms. "If you can't remember, then don't bother trying. It won't change anything."

"What do you mean…?" Noire asked in confusion.

"Take a look behind you."

Noire didn't really get what Kurome was trying to say, but nonetheless she complied with her request. She turned around, and to her surprise, she saw Uni behind her, unconscious, with a bandage wrapped around her waist.

"Uni!" Noire tried to stand up, but her body was devoid of strength, and she just managed to crawl to her sister. "Uni! Uni! Are you okay?" She tapped Uni's shoulder and shook her lightly, but no responses.

"It seems like she suffered a deep injury." Kurome said.

Noire turned back to Kurome with a worried look on her face. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know. I have no idea what happened as she was already in that state when Nepgear told me to bring her here."

Even with that, Noire still had no idea what was going on. Well, it was a blatant explanation, after all. "Nepgear? What is going on really?! Both me and Uni are here, and now you mentioned Nepgear. Tell me what is going on!" Noire was growing anxious already.

Kurome bit her lip. She wasn't really sure if she needed to tell her but of course, she had to. After all, this was Lastation they were talking about.

"Lastation is currently under attack by Neptune. Nepgear, and probably Vert and Blanc, are the only ones defending." Kurome said.

Noire's eyes widened. Her heart started to race as she heard that news from Kurome.

"Take me back to Lastation, NOW!" Noire demanded as she stood up, but she failed. Fortunately, Kurome caught her.

"You haven't fully recovered yet, what do you plan on doing?" Kurome asked as she assisted Noire in standing up. She let go of Noire as soon as the CPU managed to stand on her two feet.

Noire glanced at Uni before turning back to Kurome again. "I'll think about that later. I have to go back to Lastation now."

Kurome eyed Noire for a moment. She was sure that Noire was still not in the right frame of mind, but her will to protect her nation overshadowed everything. Disregarding her self-being just to protect what she needed to protect, was something only a CPU like her could have.

"I can't change your mind now, can I?" Kuirome said and sighed in disappointment. If there was anything that she didn't like about this CPU, it would be her thick skull. Well, at the very least, if her skull was _that_ thick, then she wouldn't get herself killed easily.

"You can, but not today." Noire replied with a smirk.

Kurome's eyebrow twitched a little. "Whatever." She said and rolled her eyes. "Head over to where the portal to Lastation is; I've kept it open. I'm sure you know it where it is."

Noire nodded and immediately headed for the exit. She then turned back to Kurome before exiting. "Please take care of Uni." Noire then exited the room.

Kurome didn't say anything as a response and just stared at the door where Noire made her exit. She had a frown on her face, obviously because of what was happening. Not about the attack in Lastation, but about Noire and possibly the other CPUs as well.

Why though? Well, the CPUs would do everything just to make sure that the world stayed safe, even if they had to do something unbecoming of them. That was natural, of course. It was for the sake of their people.

And that was what frustrated Kurome.

 **~o~O~o~**

Lastation – City.

In the airspace of Lastation, there were three people, or specifically, CPUs, fighting against each other. Not exactly against each other, as the fight was two against one. They were the CPUs of Planeptune, Lowee, and Leanbox, namely Neptune, Blanc, and Vert, respectively, with the latter two teaming up against the former one.

"GAAH-!"

All of a sudden, Blanc was blown away as she blocked an attack from Neptune. She was sure that her stance was stable and her defenses was on top but Neptune's strength completely overpowered her, which threw her entire defenses into disarray. She crashed onto a nearby building which then was crushed to the ground afterward.

"Neptune!" Vert dropped down from a height and attempted to impale Neptune with her spear, but her attack was too predictable for the Planeptune CPU and she managed to dodge it easily. "I'm not done yet!"

Vert charged back to Neptune and delivered a series of quick slashes, but all of them were parried by Neptune. The Planeptune CPU didn't have an amused look on her face as she stared at Vert's face. Obviously, she wasn't _enjoying_ this fight.

"Is that all you've got?" Neptune taunted.

Vert gritted her teeth and spun around, delivering a heavy swing with both of her spears, which knocked Neptune back a little as she parried it.

"Don't underestimate me!" Vert backed away and a green circle appeared on her side. "Sylhet Spear!" In an instant, a very long spear escaped from that circle, heading towards Neptune.

"…How boring."

Neptune didn't even try to move from her position and instead, she summoned a sheathe on her left hand. She then instantly inserted her katana into the sheathe and made a readying stance.

"Disappear."

Neptune flicked her sheathed katana and in an instant, countless purple slashes appeared a few good distance in front of her, slicing everything into pieces including the spear that Vert just summoned.

"Wha-?!" Vert didn't expect that kind of attack from Neptune. She immediately summoned several spears to protect herself from the incoming slashes but it didn't help her as it was destroyed the moment Neptune's attack made contact. "Kyaaaa-!"

Vert fell down to the ground as Neptune's attack hit her. Her back landed first on the ground, which made her cough blood afterward. She tried to get up, but the damage her body suffered was too much. She needed a little bit of time to heal herself, but of course, Neptune wouldn't wait for her as she was already on the ground.

"What have you been doing that made you weak?" Neptune sighed as she walked towards Vert.

Vert didn't manage to answer as her whole body was enveloped by pain. She just glared at Neptune who didn't have a pleasant look on her face. A complete disappointment was what Neptune was feeling as she looked down on Vert.

"Goodbye, Vert."

Neptune then unsheathed her katana and raised it up, aiming at Vert's chest. Vert tried to move her body away, but the pain was too strong that it rendered her motionless.

"…Ngh…!" Vert closed her eyes and prepared herself for her incoming demise. But no, she didn't feel anything pierce her body or anything and instead, she heard a sound of objects dropping down to the ground.

She opened her eyes and saw several swords just beside her. Neptune was nowhere to be found also. She tried to move her head and look for Neptune but she couldn't as it seemed like she her neck wasn't cooperating with her.

Shortly after that, someone dropped down from the skies and landed beside the swords near Vert. The person who just arrived was completely known by Vert, as she could very well recognize that gray suit.

"N-Noire…"

Yes, the person who just arrived, and presumably the one who saved Vert's life was Noire.

"I'm sorry that this happened…" Noire apologized without looking at Vert as her attention was drawn to something… or someone from afar. "I'll take it from here."

Vert wasn't really sure if she heard that right, but she couldn't do anything anyway.

"B-Be careful… she… Neptune is… too strong…"

Noire glanced back at Vert and then back to wherever she was looking earlier. Her eyes were pinned onto someone who was just a few meters in front of her.

"Neptune…"

Yes, Noire's attention was drawn to Neptune. She was just standing from afar, staring at Noire and Vert. It seemed like she was mocking them as she didn't try to do a surprise attack.

Noire saw this as an opportunity to gather information about the current situation. "Where's Blanc?" She asked.

"I… I don't know…" Vert mumbled, but enough for Noire to hear it. "She… she crashed into a building earlier… I think she lost consciousness."

Noire clicked her tongue. From the looks of the situation, her city was getting torn apart, as she could see countless clones wrecking the city. She just hoped that her people managed to escape, as she really couldn't save them completely, not until they defeat Neptune.

"Alright then." Noire said and she gripped her sword tighter. Her hands were shaking a little due to the fact that she was going to fight Neptune again, and also the fact that her nation was meeting its demise.

"…" She then started to walk away from Vert and headed towards Neptune, who was still standing from her position. As soon as she got close, she stopped walking.

"Oh…? It seems like you broke free from my power." Neptune said as she crossed her arms. "How did you manage to?"

"You don't need to know." Noire said as she prepared her sword. "You just caught me off-guard before."

Neptune smirked and chuckled. "Heh, overconfidence makes you careless, Noire." Neptune said. "I haven't known you for like forever for nothing."

Noire's eyes narrowed a little as she stared at Neptune. "Sure you do."

For a short while, the two of them just stared at each other. They were observing each other for potential movements.

"Aren't you going to attack?" Neptune taunted as she grinned.

"I could ask the same thing." Noire replied with a smirk.

Neptune then gripped on her sheathed katana's handle and took a step backward. "Well then, I'll go first, if you don't mind." In an instant, she stomped her back foot and dashed towards Noire. As she got close, she unsheathed her katana and delivered a sideward slash, but Noire managed to parry it with her sword.

"Not bad." Neptune said.

"…" Noire didn't say anything and swung her sword upward to repel Neptune. The purple CPU backed a few meters away, but Noire chased her as she jumped upward and delivered a heavy downward slash in mere moments.

"…!" Neptune was surprised with Noire's sudden increase in speed. She lifted her katana using her both hands and blocked Noire's incoming attack. As their weapons made contact, the ground under Neptune cracked and a shockwave was released to a several meter radius. They exchanged blows for a few times before locking their weapons again.

Noire tried to push her sword further to break Neptune's defenses, but it seemed like it would be impossible with her current strength.

"Not bad, Noire. Not bad at all." Neptune said.

Noire just grinned at Neptune as a reply, in which Neptune did the same afterward.

"But, you're still a hundred levels below me." Neptune's body then glowed, which alerted Noire. "Though I commend you for making it this far."

"…!" Noire instinctively backed away from Neptune as she felt great danger. Right after she got away, a pillar of light that rose up to the skies covered Neptune's body. It wasn't new to Noire as she completely recognized that attack.

"Neptune!" Noire shouted. That attack was the same as _before_. The attack Neptune used when she, Blanc, and Vert teamed up to remove Neptune from existence during the console wars. And now that Neptune used it again, Noire couldn't help but feel like history repeated itself.

But as soon as the pillar of light disappeared, Noire saw Neptune completely unharmed, with her katana sheathed back. Another thing she noticed was Neptune's body was covered in purple aura, which gave Noire a sinister feeling. It was the same feeling when she looked at Gehaburn, but not entirely the same. Just like a fraction of it, if she was to assess it.

"Noire, I'm happy that I met you. I really am." Neptune said. Noire didn't know what to say as a reply because she didn't know what Neptune meant about that. She didn't want to misunderstand Neptune so she just kept herself quiet and not think about that.

"But… you have to die."

Noire was alerted as Neptune grabbed the handle of her sheathed katana and took a step backward. Noire immediately lifted her sword up.

'Damn it…! I won't make it…!' Noire thought as if she realized what Neptune was going to do. She then brought her sword down and stabbed the ground.

"Farewell, Noire." Neptune then flicked her sheathed katana and in an instant, Noire was suddenly surrounded by countless purple slashes that was slicing everything it touched.

At the same time, white flash suddenly covered the whole battlefield for a moment, which somehow surprised Neptune as she covered her eyes. As it died down, Neptune looked for Noire. She saw her still in her position, but she was kneeling on the ground. Her body wasn't unharmed as several cuts were visible on her skin and her processor unit was damaged. There were also several broken objects around Noire that looked like crystals of sorts.

"I see, I see." Neptune said as she chuckled. Noire didn't have a pleasant look on her face as she was bleeding from everywhere on her body.

"You hastily summoned several swords and protected yourself with it from my attack, but since it was a quick materialization, they broke easily."

Noire could just grit her teeth. It wasn't even ten minutes since their battle started and she already suffered several injuries. Their gap in their strengths was too wide; Noire wasn't a match at all.

"Looks like you're out of luck, Noire." Neptune said as she unsheathed her katana once more.

Noire gripped on her sword tightly as she stood up, but she couldn't muster up her strength and so she only managed to kneel.

She was going to die.

She was going to die if she wouldn't do anything.

Noire knew that. It was the only thought that she had as she stared at Neptune. She knew that Neptune wouldn't hesitate to cut her head down.

Without further ado, Neptune dashed towards Noire. The Lastation CPU tried to move from her position, but she couldn't as her legs didn't cooperate with her.

'Tough luck, huh…' Noire thought as she closed her eyes and waited for her demise. In the end, Neptune was still miles away in terms of strength. Even back in Celestia, Neptune took the three of them down. She knew the difference in their strengths. 'I just can't win against you, can I?'

Noire exhaled as she lost her strength to fight back.

'I guess… I can't complain… this was my… our fault, after all…'

And so, Noire didn't try to move anymore and waited for Neptune to end her life, but suddenly, Noire felt the ground shook violently. Apparently, that quake saved Noire's life as she didn't feel any pain, and she could still hear her breathing.

"…Ugh…" Noire slowly opened her eyes to see what just happened. A few meters in front of her, there was an axe stuck on the ground. Neptune was at the opposite side; it seemed like that axe made her retreat.

"I just got knocked out for several minutes, then I see you back here in Lastation, but in that pitiful state." A voice then suddenly spoke from behind Noire. She then slowly turned around to see who that was, and found out that it was Blanc. "What are you doing? You're better than this, Noire."

"Blanc…" Noire said softly.

Blanc didn't pay heed to her call and just walked past her. She then took her axe back and faced Neptune. "Hey, got a moment to talk, Neptune?"

Neptune chuckled as she heard Blanc's question. "Don't bother. I know what you're trying to do." She said as she put her katana back in the sheathe. "You want to buy Nepgear some time to heal Vert."

Blanc narrowed her eyes and prepared herself.

"Don't worry. I'll let my dear sister do what she wants. She can heal Noire if she wanted to." Neptune said as she crossed her arms and smiled evily. "Lastation is done for anyway; I have all the time to play with you all."

"Heh, underestimating us now, huh?" Blanc said.

"You have no chance of winning against me." Neptune said nonchalantly.

Blanc didn't say a word after that. She turned around and saw Nepgear heading towards Noire already. Vert was still trying to stand up. Her wounds might've been healed, but of course, the pain didn't go away.

As soon as Nepgear went to Noire's aid, she immediately started to heal the Lastation CPU's wounds. Noire winced in pain as she felt her wounds closing. As soon as all of Noire's wounds closed, Nepgear sighed in relief, so did Noire as well.

"Why… are you helping us now…?" Noire asked.

Nepgear closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again and replied to Noire.

"I have decided."

 **~o~O~o~**

" _Sis…!"_

 _I saw my sister, Neptune, up in the skies from the building I was in. I was on the rooftop; I could also see Vert and Blanc fighting my sister. Two versus one didn't seem like a fair fight, but as I saw it, my sister still had the greater advantage._

 _Though I wouldn't really call it advantage because she was literally overpowering Vert and Blanc._

" _Ah…!"_

 _After a short while, I saw Blanc fell down from the skies and crashed onto a nearby building._

" _What should I…?"_

 _Why the hell was I hesitating? If this continued, Vert and Blanc would die, and Lastation would be done for. Uni would lose her home._

"…"

 _I clenched my fists. Going against my sister… can I really do it…? What if…?_

"… _No."_

 _This wasn't the time to be thinking about things. I had to do the things I must do._

" _Uni…"_

 _I can't let this go on forever. I started this… and I had to end this._

" _Sis…"_

 _Ah… Neptune… I really, really wanted to stay beside you… I can't stand this anymore… I've had enough already…_

" _I'm going to join you soon…"_

 _I then went to Blanc's aid without further ado._

 **~o~O~o~**

"I have decided." Nepgear said as she faced her sister. "I am going to fight. I will no longer sit back and do nothing." She then summoned her weapon and held on it tight after healing Noire's wound.

Noire pulled her sword from the ground and stood up. She was delighted with Nepgear's answer, of course.

"Good to know that you're not hesitating anymore." Noire said.

Nepgear didn't say anything and just walked towards Blanc as Noire did so. Neptune's expression didn't change as she still had this smile on her lips even when learning that Nepgear went against her.

"Ah, so three against one again, huh?" Neptune said as she sighed in disappointment.

"That's four." Suddenly, Vert appeared beside Noire. "You picked a fight against us, so you can't complain now."

Neptune blinked twice before bursting into laughter. "Me? Complain? You're being funny, Vert!" Neptune tried to calm herself down, but it looked like what Vert just said hurt her sides. "Oh, you probably didn't hear me say it earlier, but even with you four together, you have no chance of winning against me."

Nepgear and the others' expression turned into a more serious one. To their eyes, it seemed like Neptune wasn't joking, in which truthfully she wasn't.

"So, who wants to go first?" Neptune taunted as she held on her katana.

Without saying anything, Blanc charged forward.

"I'll go first, then!" Blanc said and leaped forward. She then smashed her axe onto the ground, creating a massive volume of ice chunk in front of her. Neptune managed to evade it by backing away, but Blanc didn't give her a chance to escape. "You're not going anywhere!"

Blanc spun around and smashed the huge ice chunk in front of her. The ice got crushed into smaller pieces and were blown towards Neptune.

"…!" Neptune slashed the ice shards that were heading towards her direction. As she was busy doing that, Blanc jumped up and then delivered a heavy downward slash.

"Take this!" Blanc attempted to slice Neptune in half, but the purple CPU managed to evade it by stepping backwards. "Hard Break!"

"…!" Neptune was surprised as she felt a very strong energy under her feet. Shortly after that, a huge pillar of light emerged from below her which blew her whole body up to the skies.

"Vert!" Blanc signaled.

"I got it!" Vert responded. She was already flying towards Neptune. "Spiral Break!"

In an instant, Vert's body glowed in green and she disappeared. A moment after that, several green slashes appeared around Neptune which were trying to slice the purple CPU down. Shortly after that, Vert appeared above and threw her spear downward, towards Neptune. As it made contact with the purple CPU, an explosion erupted which released a blinding light.

"Noire!"

Noire didn't say anything as a reply. Her body released a very strong aura and her sword transformed into a silver sword that looked like a crystal before she flew towards Neptune.

"Infinite Slash!" Noire flew past the blinding light and slashed it in the process. She repeated it several times before delivering an upward slash and ultimately throwing her sword down to the light.

Noire landed on the ground afterward and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, the ball of light was shrouded by countless dark slashes, seemingly slicing it. She then turned to Nepgear, who was still standing on her position earlier.

"It's your turn, Nepgear!" Noire called.

Nepgear lifted her weapon and aimed it at the ball of light. She was about to pull her weapon's trigger when suddenly her finger froze.

"…"

She may have said it earlier that she was going to fight, but still, she was afraid that she might actually kill her sister. Her finger was shaking, and her heart was racing which made her short on breathing. Her vision was somehow going in disarray as she aimed to her sister. She may not see Neptune from that ball of light, but she knew that she was there.

As her brooding went on, Noire called out to her once more.

"NEPGEAR!"

Nepgear snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Noire's call. She turned to where the Lastation CPU was, and saw that Noire was still at her position.

"Are you hesitating now, after what you've said earlier?!" Noire said. "I thought you've decided already!"

Nepgear's eyes widened.

' _That's right, I've decided already…'_ Nepgear thought.

"Who are you fighting for anyway?!" Noire continued.

With that question asked, Nepgear's finger stopped shaking. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The answer to Noire's question… she had it with her. She wasn't just fighting for anyone's sake.

And the answer to that question….

"Sis… Uni… Histoire… Kurome…"

Nepgear then opened her eyes and pulled her weapon's trigger.

"Multiple Beam Launcher!" A very strong wave of energy then escaped Nepgear's weapon and headed towards the ball of light on the skies. As it made contact, an explosion immediately occurred.

"Haah… Haah…" For some reason, that single attack took a lot of Nepgear's strength. She didn't know why, but maybe her mental prowess was consumed by her decision making.

Shortly after that, the CPUs saw Neptune fall down from the smoke created by the explosion. Her body crashed onto the ground, but none of them dared to go near her.

"…Sis…" Nepgear mumbled. For some reason, she felt that something was off. It was a familiar feeling, but she really can't tell what it was exactly. It was like a feeling of déjà vu.

Because she knew that her sister wouldn't go down that easily.

Noire, Blanc, and Vert regrouped to Nepgear. They were also cautious as even though they managed to deal those attacks to Neptune, the clones were still heading towards the city. That gave them an idea that this wasn't over yet.

"What do you think?" Blanc asked.

Noire swung her head. "Don't let your guard down."

None of them said a word after that and they just looked at each other. They then nodded and walked slowly towards where Neptune crashed onto. But before they could get close…

"…Hahahahaha…!"

The four of them stopped on their tracks as they heard that sinister laughter. They couldn't see it clearly, but they knew who did that, as they completely recognized that voice. They readied themselves in case Neptune would perform a surprise attack, but they're expectations were blown away as they saw Neptune stood up from where she crashed. They were also confused when they saw her body unharmed; not a single cut nor bruise was found even after all those attacks they did to her.

"Is that the best the four of you can do?" Neptune asked as she sheathed her katana. "I thought with the four of you, you can do better."

The three CPUs and Nepgear gulped as they suddenly felt afraid. It finally sunk in their minds; what Neptune said earlier was true. They cannot win against her. This was probably the reason why Neptune gave them a chance to attack first to let them know that everything they would do were futile.

"What the hell... is going on…?" Noire, Blanc, and Vert mumbled in unison. They totally had no idea about what was happening. Even after they did a coordinated attack, Neptune still managed to get out unscathed, even though those attacks they did were deadly.

They were completely overpowered. It was the first time that they saw something like this.

Except for Nepgear.

'It's the same with Falcom…' Nepgear bit her lip as she thought that. She could barely recall the events in there as she wasn't really 'in the right mind' during that time, but she knew it.

They wouldn't be able to defeat Neptune by normal means. Nepgear and the others knew this as well.

"What… are we going to do…?" Blanc asked nervously. "Our attacks can't do shit."

None of them answered Blanc's question as they had no idea what to say. They had no concrete information about Neptune's strength; just the fact that she was ridiculously strong.

"I guess that's it for you?" Neptune asked. She then grabbed her sheathed katana's handle and took a step back. "It's my turn now, then."

Nepgear and the others prepared themselves for Neptune's incoming attack. They knew the extent of Neptune's strength and so they had to do more than just defend themselves from it.

"I hope you had a fun time with me." Neptune then unsheathed her katana, but then something came out of it as she pulled it out. Flames, her katana was shrouded in flames which completely surprised the four defenders. "Burn into ashes…" Neptune then jumped in the skies and did a single spin.

"Blaze Break!" She then swung her sword as she spun around one more time. As she did that, a huge wave of irregularly-shaped flame escaped her katana and headed towards Noire and the others. That attack prompted them to scatter away to escape the flames. As the flame hit the ground, it exploded, burning a good kilometer radius.

"Kh…!" Noire winced as she tried to avoid the flames. She didn't get hit directly, but the heat from the flame was too intense that she could feel it on her back.

"Where is she getting all of these powers?!" Blanc gritted her teeth in frustration as she flew away from the flame.

Vert and Nepgear didn't say anything and just did their best not to get caught by the fire. The last thing they needed was to get roasted alive.

But right after they got away from the flames, the atmosphere around them suddenly became heavy, as if the air was filled with dread. Nepgear and the others knew what they were feeling.

Danger.

Each of them quickly looked for Neptune. They were too busy trying to evade the flames that they completely forgot to pay attention to her. As they got their eyes on Neptune, they saw her on the ground with a dark purple aura around her. The crushed concrete on the ground were floating around Neptune as the aura around her was growing intense.

With what they saw, Noire had one thing in her mind.

"Everyone. RUN!" Noire shouted at the top of her lungs.

Nepgear and the others didn't even say anything in return and just flew away as far as they can from Neptune, but before they could get away…

" _ **You can't escape from me."**_

Neptune's body suddenly disappeared to thin air, but a mere moment after that, she appeared in front of Noire, Blanc, and Vert simultaneously.

"Wha-?!" Noire was taken aback as she saw Neptune suddenly appeared in front of her. Neptune then suddenly disappeared again, but this time, she didn't just disappear. Several purple slashes encircled around Noire.

"KYAAAAA-!" Noire cried in pain as her sword got destroyed in hopes to defend herself, but she still received several slashes which made her fall to the ground.

Vert and Blanc met the same fate as Noire as they were also falling down to the ground. As the three CPUs hit the floor, Neptune appeared back to where she was previously.

"Hnnn…" Neptune hummed as she looked for Nepgear. She found her flying away from the battlefield as if she was unaware about what happened to Noire and the others. They scattered away from each other, after all.

Neptune really _did not_ want to hurt Nepgear, as of course, she was her dear sister, despite her defecting to Noire and the others.

"I guess I need to discipline her just a bit."

And so, Neptune stomped her foot and rose up to the skies. She chased Nepgear who wasn't even looking back, as if she really wanted to get far away like her life depended on it. But of course, no matter how fast Nepgear tried to escape, she wouldn't be able to as Neptune already caught up with her.

Neptune furtherly increased her speed and overtook Nepgear. In just a moment, she was already in front of Nepgear, who stopped in her tracks. She then grabbed Nepgear by her shoulders for her to not to escape.

"Wha-?!" Nepgear was surprised with Neptune's sudden appearance and grabbing.

Neptune frowned. "I really didn't want to hurt you, Nepgear, but I need to teach you a lesson." Without further ado, Neptune did a head-butt attack, which blew Nepgear back to the ground.

Nepgear crashed onto the ground in just mere seconds, creating a dust screen as she did so. Neptune didn't chase her away, but instead, she was rubbing her forehead, as if it was in pain.

"Ugh…" Nepgear winced in pain, not from her back, but from her forehead. She wondered why she didn't feel much pain as she landed on the ground despite dropping down in high speed. "Huh…?"

Nepgear noticed that there was something soft behind her. She then turned around and checked what that was. To her surprise, Nepgear saw her sister, most probably unconscious, as she just used her as a landing pad.

"What is…?" She didn't quite understand why, but she turned back to where Neptune just ambushed her. Nepgear saw that her sister was still there, though she really couldn't see what she was doing.

A lot of questions were raised inside Nepgear's mind, but she was sure that the person behind her was a clone.

"Ah…" Nepgear looked around her. She saw Noire and the others on the ground, scattered. They seemed to be recovering also as they were also standing up.

As the four of them noticed each other, they regrouped at once. Neptune was still above them, in the skies, doing whatever she was doing.

"So… anyone got a better plan…?" Blanc asked as she held her left arm. It seemed like she suffered an injury as it was bleeding.

Nobody said a word and they just looked at Neptune's direction, who was already descending. She stopped as she was just a few meters above them, with her hand still on her forehead.

"I… I don't know…" Vert said. Her left leg was injured as blood was flowing out of it. Noire didn't say anything and stared at Neptune. She didn't suffer a severe injury but her body was covered in cuts and bruises.

All she could do was bite her lips.

"How about you, Nepgear…?" Vert asked as she turned to Nepgear. "Do you know any of Neptune's weaknesses…?"

Nepgear didn't say anything and just gulped. Neptune's weakness… was something she didn't bother thinking about as it never occurred to her that his day would arrive.

And this situation was already tearing Nepgear apart. She couldn't take this anymore. She may have said that she decided to fight Neptune, but that was easier said than done. Because despite that, deep in her heart, she still didn't want to fight Neptune.

"N…No… I don't know…" She replied.

"Is that so…" Vert was dejected to hear her answer. It seemed like they were out of options already. With their current situation, their chances of winning against Neptune was less than zero. They themselves knew that as Neptune just took the four of them down single-handedly. Even if they weren't exhausted by the clones, they knew that they still wouldn't be able to win against her.

The three CPUs were about to give up when Nepgear suddenly spoke once more.

"But…"

Noire, Blanc, and Vert turned to Nepgear with a questioning look.

"We can defeat her… if we use this…" Nepgear then raised her left arm. A dark light suddenly covered her hand and shortly after that, a sword emerged from it. The three CPU's eyes widened as they saw what Nepgear just materialized.

"Nepgear… Are you being serious with that…?" Noire backed away a little. Seeing that sword made her a little nervous. The same went with Blanc and Vert as they did what Noire just did.

Nepgear couldn't answer that question. The sword she was holding was the same sword that Noire and the others feared. The sword that could take a Goddess' life and use it as a source of power.

Gehaburn.

Noire completely understood what their situation was. They had to use whatever they had in their disposal to win against Neptune. But seeing Nepgear holding Gehaburn, and with what she said earlier, Noire couldn't imagine how much more suffering Nepgear had to take in.

"I… I don't know anymore…" Nepgear said. Noire could see that Nepgear had enough of this already by just looking at her eyes. "You three are going to die and I don't know what will happen to me anyway if we can't defeat my sister."

The three CPUs were speechless. What Nepgear said was a fact.

"Okay but… can you even do it…?" Noire asked worryingly.

Nepgear was at loss of words. She didn't know what to answer. Using Gehaburn against Neptune could only mean one thing.

Kill her.

Yes, nothing more, nothing less. The sword's one and only power was killing divine beings, CPUs included.

"But now's not the time for a good discussion." Noire said as she turned around. "Your sister's not gonna wait for us."

Yes, Neptune was already on the ground, just a few meters away from them. It looked like she was ready to resume their battle.

"So, you finally decided to use that sword, Nepgear." Neptune said with a sad look on her face. "You're really going to kill me…"

Nepgear gasped as she heard that. Her heart was racing and she was short on breathing. Hearing that from Neptune gave her a different fear unlike hearing herself say that.

"Don't let her get in your head, Nepgear." Noire said as she stood in front of Nepgear. Blanc and Vert did the same with the object of protecting Nepgear at all costs. This was the only shot they had left and if Neptune manages to get a hold of Gehaburn or even Nepgear, all hopes would be lost. "We'll try to give you an opening, so hold still."

Nepgear nodded and shook her head as she cleared her thoughts. There was only one thing left to do.

"But of course, I won't let any of you kill me." Neptune said and held her katana's handle. "Though you can't even scrape me."

Neptune then dashed towards the four. Blanc, Noire, and Vert did the same while Nepgear just stayed behind. The three CPUs intercepted Neptune as they delivered a simultaneous attack which made Neptune go to defensive as she blocked their weapons with her katana.

"You three just don't give up, do you? Neptune said as she kept her opponent's weapons from touching her.

The three gritted their teeth as they kept pushing Neptune. Even though it was three versus one, it seemed like Neptune still had the upper hand. Well, count the fact that Noire, Blanc, and Vert were injured, while Neptune was still unscathed.

"We're not handing the world onto you, Neptune!" Vert exclaimed.

Neptune chuckled after hearing that. The three CPUs then suddenly felt a chill down their spine.

"Well, congratulations." All of a sudden, Neptune's body was covered in dark purple aura. The three CPUs already knew what that meant and they attempted to back away, but they were too late.

"You just failed that."

In an instant, the ground under Noire, Blanc, and Vert shook, and after a mere moment, it cracked and exploded, blowing the three CPUs up to the skies while Neptune just stepped backwards, avoiding the shrapnel of rocks.

"AGH-!" The three CPUs cried in pain as they felt the concretes hit their backs and got blown up to the skies. But that didn't end there. Neptune jumped up, chased the three and stopped right above them.

"I'm done playing with you three." Neptune said as she held her katana tightly. "Thanks for sharing your time with me."

Neptune's katana was then suddenly covered in flames. "Blaze Break!"

A crescent-shaped flame was made as Neptune swung her katana sideward. The flame was headed towards Noire and the other's direction. From its size, the three of them would be hit simultaneously.

"…Ngh..!" Noire, Blanc, and Vert didn't have time to react to everything as it happened very fast, and so all they did was try to protect themselves with their bare hands. "Kyaaah-!" The three of them cried in pain as they got hit by the flame. They then started to fall down to the ground and as soon as they crashed, their transformations reverted.

Nepgear gasped as she witnessed what happened to her companions. They were taken down effortlessly by Neptune. Witnessing that, Nepgear questioned herself what she could even do against her sister.

"…"

Nepgear directed her attention to her companions. It seemed like they were knocked out as they weren't moving, except for Noire, who was trying to crawl away from her position.

Nepgear gulped and turned back to Neptune, who was still in midair.

She had to do something.

 **~o~O~o~**

 _My hands were shaking._

 _I knew why._

 _In my hands was the sword called Gehaburn, a sword that possessed a great power to kill divine beings. Seems great, but not that great. It may have contained a great power, but if the user was useless, then it wasn't any different from normal weapons._

 _But that wasn't the real issue here. Up in the skies, I saw my sister looking down at us; Noire, Blanc, Vert, and I._

 _I had no idea what to do anymore._

 _My wish was granted, and that was to be with my sister again. But what cruel fate it was for this kind of predicament to happen._

 _Was it because of 'that'?_

 _No, it definitely wasn't, because that would mean blaming Kurome for this, and it surely wasn't her fault. It was my fault. I tried to do something that should never be done. But, I couldn't help it. I was alone all these years. I wanted her back so much._

 _I lost all my resolve all of a sudden. Noire, Blanc, and Vert didn't stand a chance against Neptune, how much more if I fight her alone?_

"…"

 _But I didn't care about that. Not at all. My biggest concern was…_

"… _Why did this have to happen…?"_

 _Not the destruction of Lastation, nor the war against Planeptune. I didn't particularly care about that._

"… _Why did you become like this, Sis…?"_

 _Yes, I never knew the reason why Neptune turned out like this, a bloodthirsty CPU who killed her best friend, and tried to take over Lastation. I never understood the reason why she became like this. I wished for her return, but not like this!_

 _Time seemed to be moving slower as I drowned in my thoughts. Was it because my mind was anticipating the worst? I didn't know._

 _But despite that…_

"… _I have to do something…"_

 _I had to. With chaos happening everywhere in Lastation, that just came as a norm. But the biggest question, what could I even do? We didn't stand against Neptune; we couldn't even scrape her._

 _She was completely invincible._

"… _?"_

 _Wait, no, that wasn't right. It was true that we couldn't deal a damage to her, but that didn't mean she was invulnerable._

 _Because I saw it before, back when Neptune killed her best friend, Falcom. Neptune got injured when Falcom attacked both of us, but when she fought sis one versus one, she didn't deal any damage at all._

"…"

 _Time seemed to have resumed to its normal flow as I raised my head. I saw my sister still up in the skies, slowly descending to the ground. I just stayed in my position and held Gehaburn with my shaking hands._

"…"

 _Not because I was afraid… well, partly, but that wasn't the real reason…_

"… _It wasn't a coincidence."_

 _I brought my eyes down to where Blanc and the others were, and I saw Noire crawling towards me. It also seemed like she was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't hear what she was saying._

"…"

 _What wasn't a coincidence?_

"…"

 _The fact that Neptune got injured for the first time since she came back. Yes, it wasn't a coincidence, I was sure of it. But the question would be, how did she got injured?_

"… _?!" I suddenly recalled what happened earlier. When Neptune almost crushed my skull, she was rubbing her forehead, as if she just felt pain from it. It was weird when after we gave everything we've got on trying to take her down, she was still unharmed._

" _Could it be…?!"_

 _But before I could confirm whatever I had in mind, I saw Neptune land on the ground. She was walking towards Blanc, who was still unconscious._

"… _!" My body moved on its own and charged towards Neptune. I attempted to attack her by swinging Gehaburn but she easily deflected my attack and I got pushed back._

"… _So strong…!" It took my everything just to block her attack and keep my balance. Neptune's strength was really off the charts now._

 _Come on, think!_

"…"

 _Neptune then ignored Blanc and just stared at me. Even from afar, I could feel her intimidating stare._

" _Nepgear…" I heard her call. Even from afar, I heard her voice, as if she was speaking through my mind. I gulped and held Gehaburn tighter to prepare whatever Neptune had in store._

"…"

 _But no movements so far. I prepared to attack, but suddenly my whole body froze._

"… _?!"_

 _Not because I felt Neptune's deathly glares, but because I just remembered something crucial. Something that happened earlier._

 _Back in Lastation's Basilicom._

 **~o~O~o~**

 _ **I was inside a room, and there was Noire in front of me. She had her blade pointed at my chest. I knew why she was doing that. Because…**_

" _ **You really are my… sister."**_

 **~o~O~o~**

 _I knew what had to be done. I knew how to end this mess once and for all. Putting the pieces together, there was no mistaking it. Neptune's weakness was none other than…_

"…"

 _Ah… what cruel fate it was. The irony of my wish… and my life. Why can't I have nice things in my life…? I just wanted a small piece of happiness. What did I do to deserve such fate?_

"…"

 _I raised Gehaburn up, which alerted Neptune. She looked startled, as if she knew what I had in mind as she quickly dashed towards me_

 _I guess this wouldn't have happened if I just came into terms with my_ _ **sister's wish.**_

" _NEPGEAR!" I saw Neptune try to reach for me, but I won't let her. I made up my mind. In order to end this mess, I had to…_

" _ **I'm sorry."**_

 _I brought down Gehaburn and stabbed it directly at my chest._

" _AAAGGHH-!"_

 _To say that it hurt would be an understatement. My vision started to fade out as well as my breathing._

 _I gathered my remaining strength and pushed Gehaburn further. I had become so numb that I couldn't even feel anything anymore._

 _All I knew was, my death was certain._

 **~o~O~o~**

"No…!" Noire witnessed everything.

Nepgear just stabbed herself with Gehaburn as Neptune tried to reach for her. And for some reason, as Nepgear did that, Neptune suddenly lost her balance and fell down to the ground with Nepgear.

"N…Nepgear… Nep…tune…!" Noire gathered her remaining strength and tried to stand up, but she couldn't and just fell down. But she didn't give up just yet. Using her whole body, she crawled towards the Planeptune sisters.

Noire couldn't believe what Nepgear just did. But for some reason, it made Neptune stop moving.

"Nep…gear…"

Noire ignored the pain in her body and tried to stand up once more. This time, she finally succeeded, with the help of her blade as a support. She slowly walked towards the sisters.

"Ah…!"

She fell on her knees before she could get close to them. There, Nepgear indeed stabbed herself with Gehaburn, and she was bleeding intensively from her chest. Neptune, on the other hand, was on the ground face down as she tried to reach for Nepgear, but she didn't manage to. Noire had no idea what was going on, about why Nepgear stabbed herself, and why Neptune suddenly stopped moving, but before she could think of an answer, Neptune's body started to disintegrate.

"Ah…!" Noire tried to reach for Neptune, but she turned into dust before Noire could even touch her. She felt a very sharp pain in her heart, as if millions of blades just pierced right through it. Seeing Neptune die for the third time was the worst feeling Noire could ever experience.

"Nep… tune…" Her tears started to fall down from her eyes. She couldn't contain it anymore. She wished that everything that had happened was just a nightmare, but no, this was reality, and it was a cruel one.

Suddenly, a pillar of light emerged from the sky and dropped down in front of Noire. The Lastation CPU fell down on her butt as the pillar appeared.

But when the pillar of light disappeared…

"…H…Huh…?"

Someone was already in front of Noire.

* * *

 **There you go guys! Chapter 13!**

 **Umm, yeah. The next one is the final chapter.**

 **Uhm, what should I say?**

 **Y-Yeah, reviews, guys?**

 **I-I gotta go, see ya on the next chapter! *runs for my life***


	14. The Truth (End)

**Hi guys! Time for Chapter 14!**

 **I thank everyone who stuck with me until the very end! You guys are the best :D**

 **So, yeah, this is the last chapter. I'm sad D:**

 **Answering your questions!**

 **To Shadicgon: Hmm, I won't say anything concrete for now, since I have no idea how I would continue Memories. If I get a good idea then I might just, y'know :)**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chappie!**

* * *

"Alright, I guess this will do."

Inside Lastation's Basilicom, a young girl, technically, could be seen packing up stuff inside her room. The stuff she was compiling were mostly clothes, and others were a mixture of hygiene materials and some gadgets. She was keeping them in three luggage; it seemed like she was off to a long journey.

She sighed afterward. it looked like she was troubled as that sigh of hers was deep.

"Time to go." She said after hitting her cheeks. She then pulled her luggage out of the room and headed to her office. As she arrived there, she knocked twice before going in. "Uni?"

From inside the room, a girl with raven-colored hair was seen working at the desk by the window. Her looks were almost identical to the person who just entered the room, and that was because…

"Oh, sis. Good morning."

Yes, because they were sisters. It was Uni's sister, Noire, who just entered the room.

"You're up early to work. Are you sure you're not pushing yourself too much?" Noire asked in concern. She wasn't really the one to talk, though.

Uni swung her head. "No, I'm fine. I can handle myself."

Noire smiled. "Sure you do. You've been doing more of my work in the past ten years, after all."

Uni blushed as she heard that. It wasn't really every day that Noire praised her, so hearing that from her must've been really a great feeling for Uni.

But of course, that was only because Noire wasn't really in the right shape.

Why?

"Sis… are you going to Planeptune again?" Uni asked.

As Noire heard that, she bit her lip. She knew what Uni was feeling.

Loneliness.

"I'm sorry Uni… but I had to…" Noire said. "And… I might stay there for a while."

Uni swung her head and beamed a smile. "No, I understand. I can't be selfish now, can I?" Despite she was smiling on the outside, it was completely the opposite on the inside. She felt like tearing her heart apart, but she had to be strong. Noire's reason was something Uni had to respect.

"You've grown up now, Uni. I can't believe you were the one always behind my back ten years ago." Noire said as she smiled. "Now you're the one in front of me."

"Sis… that's…" Uni blushed. "Flattering me won't get you anywhere."

Noire started to laugh, and so did Uni. The times they spent together might be tad short due to their circumstances, but their bond was something that will never, ever break.

Their laughter died down after a few moments. Noire took a deep breath to calm herself down before speaking. "I guess I don't need to worry about you anymore." She said.

Uni didn't quite get what Noire meant by that.

"I'm turning my sword in."

Uni's eyes widened. "Eh…?"

Noire expected that reaction from Uni. It was a big decision, after all. "It's time for you to take over Lastation, Uni."

"What?! Why, sis?!" Uni slammed the desk and stood up. She really didn't expect Noire to give up her position as the CPU of Lastation.

Noire sighed. "I can't keep this up anymore, Uni. You know that."

"B-But… I'm not ready yet…" Uni embraced herself as she was shaking. That decision was tantamount to her sister leaving Lastation permanently, and Noire could see that Uni was thinking that.

And so, Noire decided to give her courage. Though it was cowardice on her part as it looked like she was running away from her duties, but she was aware of that. It was the only way to set her heart at ease.

"You're more than ready already, Uni. Remember again who was managing things in Lastation in the past ten years?" Noire asked with a smile.

"It was Kei." Uni said as she pouted.

Noire's eyes widened. She didn't expect Kei to be inserted in their discussion, but yeah, she couldn't argue with that. "W-Well, that's true… but this is not about Kei. You know she's just keeping stuff in check so we won't make terrible mistakes."

Uni didn't argue with that. Kei might have done a lot of things, but most decision making and actions were still done by Uni, while Noire was busy doing her personal agendas.

"Besides, you're bound to take over my place anyway." Noire said as she walked towards Uni. She then tapped Uni's shoulder and gave her a smile. "If there's a perfect time for you to do that, now would be that time."

Uni was silent. She really didn't expect that this day would come. She wanted to keep what she had forever; being behind her sister's back and keep on supporting her. But in spite of that, she also knew that she eventually had to take her sister's position.

Uni was a CPU candidate, after all. Being a candidate would only mean that she was in line to be the next CPU.

"I know you can do it, Uni. You're my little sister, after all."

Uni teared up. "You're unfair, sis…"

"I'm sorry… but I can't leave _her_ alone _…_ " Noire said as she averted her eyes away from Uni.

"Is _she_ okay…?" Uni asked worryingly.

Noire swung her head. "No, _her_ condition is getting worse, actually…"

Uni bit her lip. No wonder why Noire was so adamant on leaving her duties to Uni. But with the current situation Noire was in, she wouldn't be able to do a proper job anyway. And that was what made her mind up. Noire was feeling a huge burden on her shoulders, albeit it was just her saying that, but Uni really had no right to object. If Noire felt that she had to take responsibility for _her_ , then all she could do was give her full support. Like she said earlier, she can't be selfish.

"I understand sis; I'm going to do my best!"

"That's the spirit." Noire cracked a smile, and so did Uni. "Just remember Uni, don't face every problem alone. You can ask Blanc, Vert, Kei, and everyone around you for help if you're stuck with something."

Uni nodded.

"And, even when I'm away, don't hesitate to call me for help. I might not always come to your aid, but I at least can remotely provide you help."

That reassured Uni. With everything that had been said, she felt like she can do anything.

"Okay, it's time for me to go." Noire said and headed towards the exit. "Take care, Uni."

Uni waved at Noire before making her exit. "Have a nice trip, sis!"

Noire immediately made her way out of the Basilicom. As she did so, she sighed in relief. It looked like everything went well with Uni.

But that was well expected by her already.

"This was completely unnecessary…" Noire said as she stared at the skies and smiled. "After all, Uni, you have been acting as the CPU of Lastation for years already…"

 **~o~O~o~**

Leanbox – Basilicom.

Inside a certain room in the Basilicom, there were two people having a conversation. It seemed like they weren't having a pleasant discussion, as none of them were smiling, not even a bit.

"So, how's the project going, Vert?"

The person named Vert, who was known as the CPU of Leanbox, took a sip of her tea before answering the question. "Nothing goes as planned, Blanc." She said and sighed in disappointment. "There seems to be a glitch when we're trying to activate the firewall which makes the satellite's image reception go haywire."

The person named Blanc, who was known as the CPU of a neighboring country, Lowee, sighed in disappointment. She didn't say anything as a reply and just drank her tea.

"I, Chika and her team are trying to debug the program, but if we can't find the glitch, we might rewrite the whole code."

Blanc almost spat the tea she was drinking. "Please tell me you're kidding. We've been working on that code for almost half a year now. Kei will get mad at us."

"I'm aware, but you should know that it isn't simple to add a code to a program that was already compiled years ago."

Blanc didn't answer after that. She wasn't really a genius when it comes to programming stuff, but that at least she could understand.

She sighed.

"…Why are we even doing this? It's not like there's a threat anymore anyway…"

Vert stopped drinking her tea and put her teacup down as she heard that. "That mentality is what will bring the world to demise, Blanc." She said in a serious face.

Blanc gulped in nervousness. She didn't know that Vert would take her words too seriously but nonetheless, she knew to herself that it was a mistake to think like that.

"I'm just kidding, sorry."

Vert sighed. "Please don't joke like that, Blanc. You know the tragedy ten years ago and we can't let anything like that happen again."

Blanc clenched her fists. The tragedy ten years ago… it was still fresh in her mind. She would never, ever forget what happened that day. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't. Because of the guilt that they were feeling towards _them._

"You're right. We can't let that happen again."

 **~o~O~o~**

Planeptune – Basilicom.

Noire arrived at Planeptune's Basilicom after around an hour of flight. She would've arrived sooner if it wasn't for the luggage she was carrying. The citizens also weren't surprised anymore that the CPU of a neighboring country was in Planeptune. Well, after almost every day that Noire visited this place in the past years, it would be weird if the people were still surprised if she comes here. The people just greeted Noire, in which the Lastation CPU greeted back as a sign of acknowledgement.

Without wasting anymore time, Noire proceeded to enter the Basilicom. She didn't even stop by the reception as the staff assigned in there already recognized her so she just went upstairs. Her destination was Histoire's office… or technically, _her_ office.

AS soon as Noire arrived at her destination, she knocked twice before calling out. "Histoire…?"

"The door is open; you can come in." A voice from inside the room spoke.

Noire entered the room after hearing that response. From the other side of the room, she saw a small girl sitting on a floating tome just above the desk. She was sorting and stamping papers that were stacked beside her, and it seemed like she wasn't going to be done with it any sooner.

"Oh, Noire. Good morning." The girl inside the room greeted.

"Good morning, Histoire." Noire greeted back.

Yes, the small girl inside the room was named Histoire. She was the one managing Planeptune, for now, because of… circumstances.

"I just… uh…" Noire averted her eyes away from Histoire, down to the luggage her.

Histoire just cackled at her. "I already saw that coming, Noire. I already prepared a room for you." She said. "I'll take care of your belongings; you should go to _her_."

Noire cracked a weak smile as she heard that. "Thank you, Histoire. I'll leave my stuff to your hands." She said and exited the room, leaving her luggage behind.

Histoire flew towards Noire's stuff and landed on tome on top of it. She sighed as she did so and clenched her fists. For some reason, she was frustrated, but not towards Noire.

Towards herself, instead.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this, Noire… I should be the one taking care of _her…_ "

But just outside the room, Noire was still there, leaning on the wall. She heard everything what Histoire just said.

"…It's not your fault, Histoire. It's my decision, and mine alone." Noire whispered to herself and left.

Her destination was the room of a certain girl. As for the identity of that girl and why she seemed to be so important to both Noire and Histoire…

"…"

Noire arrived at her destination. There was something written on a doorplate attached on the door. She knocked twice, but she received no responses.

"…"

And so, she decided to enter the room. As soon as she did so, she was welcomed by several papers and canvasses scattered on the floor. She didn't look so surprised as it she already saw this many times.

Ignoring the stuff on the floor and carefully not stepping on them, she ran her eyes around the room, looking for a certain girl. It didn't take her more than five seconds to find the girl she was looking for.

"…Neptune…"

Yes, the person she was looking for was named Neptune. She was known to be the CPU of Planeptune, who suddenly disappeared twenty years ago, and suddenly reappearing ten years later.

"…"

Right at the moment Noire landed her eyes on Neptune, she was sitting on a stool, with a canvass in front of her. She was drawing something… or _someone,_ and Noire recognized who that was. Noire walked closer towards Neptune while minding her step as she only had a very narrow walkway. She really didn't want to step on the scattered papers as she knew their value.

"…Neptune…?" Noire called once more, but Neptune didn't pay her heed. She just continued to draw on the canvass.

Noire looked at the canvass Neptune was drawing on. She really didn't notice it as she was visiting her every day, but now that she paid closer attention, it finally dawned on her.

Neptune was drawing the same person.

Noire ran her eyes around her. Everywhere she turned her eyes to, there were papers; on the ground, on the ceiling, on the walls; they were everywhere. She couldn't recognize some, but she knew that Neptune drew the same person. Noire could see that Neptune's drawing ability improved as she could see bad, average, and good drawings, but she didn't know if that was a good thing.

Because that was what Neptune was only doing in the past ten years. Every day, Neptune was staying in this room, doing nothing but drawing the same person.

And that hurt Noire the most because the person in Neptune's drawings was…

"…Nepgear."

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Kurome's Dimension._

 _In a certain building in the ruined dimension, there was a girl, lying down on the ground unconscious in an empty room. Not completely empty, because she was accompanied by someone._

 _And that someone was the one who claimed this dimension as_ _ **her**_ _own, Kurome._

 _The unconscious girl was restlessly moving as she lied down. It seemed like she was in pain, but most importantly, it looked like she was going to wake up. Probably due to the pain she suffered from her wound as there was a bandage wrapped on her waist, or due to whatever she was dreaming unpleasantly._

 _Kurome noticed the girl's actions and went to her aid. She placed her hand on the girl's forehead, but before she could touch the girl, her eyes shot open._

"… _Ah…!" The girl gasped as she woke up._

 _Kurome immediately retreated her hand. "Woah, are you okay, Uni?"_

 _The girl named Uni was desperately gasping for air. After a few moments, her eyes turned to Kurome. "Ms. Uzume…?"_

" _You're finally awake, Uni." Kurome said._

 _Uni tried to sit up, but an intense pain suddenly ran through her waist as she did so. She cringed as her back landed on the ground again._

" _Careful. Your wound isn't completely healed yet."_

 _Uni tried to catch her breathing again. She remembered that she got almost killed by her own sister which resulted to this wound. And speaking of remembering…_

" _Where am I…? And where is sis…?"_

" _We're in my dimension, and your sister already went back to Lastation." Kurome replied._

 _What Kurome said just confused Uni as she turned her head towards her. "Went back? What do you mean?"_

" _Apparently, Nepgear had a thought that Noire was being controlled earlier, so she asked me to bring her here after she knocked her out." Kurome said. "And to my surprise, she was indeed being controlled."_

 _Uni made an "Ah" expression after hearing what Kurome just said. "So that was why she attacked me all of a sudden." She said._

 _Kurome didn't reply. Truth to be told, she already knew that it was Noire who attacked Uni. It just couldn't be a coincidence._

" _So… can I go back to Lastation now?" Uni asked._

" _No. Not with your current condition." Kurome immediately replied._

 _Uni didn't get why Kurome was so worked up. "Why? It's not like it will pose any danger to me…"_

" _That's what you think, but you don't know what's going on in Lastation right now."_

 _Uni raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's going on in Lastation?"_

 _Kurome realized what she just said. It was her intention to keep Uni from knowing it, but now that she said it, it would be hard to change the subject anymore as this was Lastation, Uni's home, they were talking about._

 _And so, Kurome had no choice but to disclose the situation to Uni._

" _Neptune breached through Lastation's barrier, and Lastation's at war right now with her."_

 _Uni's eyes widened in surprise. "What?! Then that's the more reason I have to go back!" Uni tried to stand up, but then the pain was too much for her to handle. And so she fell down to the ground again. "Ouch…"_

" _That's the reason why I can't let you go back yet. Not until the situation gets-" Kurome interrupted herself as her eyes widened a little, like something just dawned on her._

" _Ms. Uzume…?" Uni was confused with Kurome's sudden pause._

" _Forget what I said. I'm taking you back to Lastation." Without further ado, Kurome picked Uni up._

 _Uni was completely startled as she didn't expect this kind of development. "E-E-Eh?!"_

 _Kurome dashed out of the room, ultimately out of the building and headed to where the portal to Lastation was, while Uni didn't manage to ask what just happened. As soon as they arrived at their destination, Kurome put Uni down on the ground. There was a portal in front of them and it was accessible._

" _You go ahead. I have something to do." Without waiting for a reply, Kurome flew away from Uni and headed somewhere else._

 _Uni didn't understand what really was going on, but all she knew was she could finally go back to Lastation._

 **~o~O~o~**

"… _H…Huh…?"_

 _Just a few moments ago, a pillar of light dropped down from the sky, in front of a certain girl. As for the identity of that girl, she was the CPU of Lastation, Noire. Earlier, she was fighting another CPU named Neptune, the CPU of Planeptune. During the fight, a tragedy just happened, when Noire's companion, Nepgear, just stabbed herself with Gehaburn, the sword known to have an ability to slay divine beings. Apparently, after that, Neptune perished as well along with her clones scattered in the city._

 _Going back to the pillar of light, as it disappeared, someone appeared. To Noire's surprise, she completely recognized who that person was. She completely recognized that person that she couldn't believe herself that it was_ _ **her.**_

" _Nep…tune…?" Noire couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was sure that 'Neptune' perished earlier, but seeing her again in front of her, she had no idea what was going on anymore._

 _But the Neptune in front of her was a different one. She wasn't in her HDD form. In other words, she was in her human form. Neptune was wearing her signature white hoodie-like dress with purple striped cuffs, lining, and a purple hood. Noire wasn't sure if the Neptune in front of her was another fake, but her heart wanted to believe that she was different._

 _As Neptune's feet touched the ground, her eyes opened. The first person she saw was Noire, who was sitting on the ground, covered in wounds._

" _Noire…?" Neptune softly called._

 _As the Lastation CPU heard her call, her tears started to fall down. Her heart recognized that the Neptune in front of her was the real one. The genuine one._

" _Nep… Nep…tune…" Noire couldn't hold it anymore and finally cried her heart out._

 _Neptune panicked. "W-Whoa, hey, what's going on?" She reached out for Noire and held her shoulders. "Please tell me, Noire."_

 _But Noire couldn't muster any courage to speak and just swung her head repeatedly. But Neptune didn't give up; she wanted to what happened._

" _Noire, please. I have to know." Neptune said. "I know I'm back here in Gamindustri when I should've been gone already."_

 _As Noire heard that, her cries stopped. She lifted her head up and looked at Neptune straight. After a few moments, she started to cry again and pulled Neptune into a hug._

" _I'm sorry, Neptune! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry…!"_

 _Neptune was startled. "W-Whoa, hey, calm down."_

" _I can't! I can't…!" Noire said as she swung her head while hugging Neptune. "We failed you, Neptune…. We failed you…!"_

 _Neptune didn't quite understand what Noire was talking about. "What are you saying…?"_

 _Without replying anything, Noire released Neptune and pointed behind her. Neptune turned her head to where Noire was pointing, and the second she saw_ _ **her**_ _... Neptune's heart stopped beating for a moment._

" _Nep…gear…?" Neptune called. Her heart started to race, and she was short on breathing as she crawled towards Nepgear. Noire tried to reach for Neptune, but her body failed to cooperate with her and just watched Neptune crawl away._

"…"

" _Nep…gear…?" Neptune called again as she got close to Nepgear. She saw a sword stabbed on her little sister's chest, and she was bathing in a pool of blood; her own blood, specifically._

" _Nepgear…? H-Hey…? Wake up…?" Neptune's voice was cracking. She held Nepgear in her arms and touched her cheeks. Her heart raced faster as she felt that Nepgear had gone cold. "Nepgear…? Nepgear…? Nepgear…?"_

 _Noire could just watch at a distance. She didn't know what to do in this situation, as she never, ever expected that 'Neptune' would be back again._

" _Nepgear…!"_

" _Nepgear…!"_

" _Nepgear…!"_

" _Nepgear…!"_

 _Neptune's cries echoed. Her heart was completely destroyed by what she was seeing. Returning to Gamindustri, only to find out that her sister just died; there was nothing worse to feel than that._

 _As Noire watched Neptune, she heard a voice behind her._

" _What is going on…?"_

 _Noire turned back and saw Vert and Blanc walking towards her. Vert was assisting Blanc to walk as her leg was injured, but of course, she was indifferent. Vert's body was also covered in wounds, but nothing fatal._

" _Who is…?" Vert was about to ask who was crying but she stopped herself as soon as she saw Neptune, "Is that…?!"_

 _Blanc didn't say anything as she was more than shocked already with what she was seeing._

" _Yes… that's Neptune… the real one…" Noire said as she cried. "And Nepgear is gone…"_

 _Vert and Blanc didn't doubt Noire's words. She had known Neptune more than they did; that was why there was no reason not to believe her. Moreover, the fact that Nepgear was gone made them feel more miserable._

"…" _Vert and Blanc just averted their eyes away from Neptune. The three of them were feeling the same thing. They had thought that they did their best, but it wasn't enough. After all, they didn't understand a single thing about Neptune… nor Nepgear._

" _Nepgear…!"_

" _Nepgear…!"_

" _Nepgear…!"_

" _Nepgear…!"_

 _Neptune's cries continued. Every time she called her sister's name, a pang of guilt was growing stronger in Noire's, Vert's, and Blanc's chests. For the second time, they had failed Neptune._

 _They couldn't befriend Nepgear._

 _They couldn't protect Nepgear._

 _All they could do was blame themselves for what happened. While it was mostly the fake Neptune's fault, still, it was them who pushed Nepgear to the edge. This tragedy wouldn't have happened if their eyes were just opened ten years ago. Nepgear wouldn't have wished for something she shouldn't have._

 _If they just realized that one simple solution, this world would've been peaceful, and the four… no, every one of them would've been friends. But because they couldn't trust each other before, it was hard for them to do that. And they regretted it._

 _As they were loathing with themselves, someone just dropped down from the skies from behind them._

" _Sis!"_

 _The three of them turned around to see who just called. Noire knew that it was her who was called since Vert and Blanc didn't have any sisters._

" _Uni…!" Noire immediately ran towards her and gave her a hug. Uni was surprised with Noire's actions, but she didn't retaliate. She had no reason to do so, after all._

" _Sis… what happened?" Uni asked._

 _Noire just gave her a tighter hug, but not enough to hurt Uni. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…!"_

" _Sis… why are you apologizing…?" Uni suddenly became nervous. She never expected this side of Noire, and if she was acting like this; apologizing like this, it could only mean one thing to her. "Also… where's Nepgear…?"_

 _Noire's sobs stopped as she heard that. Vert and Blanc just averted their eyes away from Uni._

" _Huh…?" Uni didn't quite understand why did they do that, not until Blanc and Vert stepped aside for Uni to see what was happening behind them._

 _As Blanc and Vert moved away, Uni saw a girl, who was sitting on the ground, holding another girl. What was more, the sitting girl was in a pool of blood, but Uni knew that it wasn't that girl's blood._

" _Is that…?" She interrupted herself as she saw the face of the girl being held from beside the sitting girl's shoulder. Her eyes widened and her heart started to race. She couldn't believe what she was seeing._

 _Nepgear's dead._

 _Apart from seeing Nepgear dead, Uni could also hear someone calling Nepgear's name. She didn't bother looking for it as she knew where that call was coming from. It was coming from the person holding Nepgear's corpse, Neptune._

" _Nepgear…!"_

" _Nepgear…!"_

" _Nepgear…!"_

 _Uni and Neptune shouted Nepgear's name in unison, but neither of them gave two cares about each other. Neptune was embracing Nepgear's body, whilst Uni was trying to break free from Noire's clutches, reaching for Nepgear, but she couldn't as her sister was holding her tightly._

 _After a few moments of grieving, Nepgear's body started to glow._

" _Huh…?! Nepgear…?!" Neptune was startled._

 _Noire and the others immediately turned to Nepgear as they heard Neptune's sudden change in tone. They were surprised to see Nepgear's glowing body. But of course, it didn't mean anything good to them._

 _As the glowing continued, Nepgear's body also started to disintegrate from her feet. Neptune noticed this but she didn't know what to do other than call her sister's name._

" _Nepgear…?! No…! Don't disappear…! Nepgear…!" Neptune called as she violently shook Nepgear, in hopes that she would wake up. "Nepgear…! Nepgear…!"_

 _Uni was still trying to break free but to no avail. Noire was keeping Uni at bay, not letting her to interrupt the sisters._

 _Nepgear's body continued to disintegrate, while Neptune kept calling Nepgear's name in hopes that her voice would be heard. Her cries echoed; Noire and the others could totally hear her, but they couldn't do anything to help. They'd just worsen the situation if they interfere._

" _Nepgear…!"_

" _Nepgear…!"_

 _The disintegration of Nepgear's body was reaching her chest, but she still didn't respond to Neptune's calls. Of course, she wouldn't be able to..._

" _Nepgear…!"_

 _Right after the disintegration passed Nepgear's neck, her eyes opened, and she cracked a smile. Her lips moved for a moment, like she just spoke a few words. Neptune's cries abruptly stopped, and then Nepgear completely disappeared from her arms._

 _Noire finally let Uni go. The scene that just played in front of them was too much to bear. This tragedy was too much for them._

" _Nepgear…" Uni fell down on her knees as she cried. She had no idea what happened, but the fact that Nepgear's dead was enough for her heart to break down. Noire, Blanc, and Vert also had no idea what happened. Neptune came back after Nepgear killed herself, the explanation for that was not known to them. Neither Neptune knew how she got back to the world._

 _Neptune didn't move. She just stayed at her position. Noire attempted to reach for Neptune, but her body didn't cooperate with her. The guilt that she was feeling was preventing her from getting close to Neptune as if she felt like she didn't have any rights to do so._

 _With everyone's indecisiveness surrounding the atmosphere, Kurome suddenly appeared in front of Noire and her companions, with her back facing them._

"… _Uzume…?!" They were surprised with her sudden appearance. But Kurome didn't pay them heed, as her eyes were glued to the person in front of her, Neptune._

 _Ignoring their calls, Kurome walked past Neptune. She then turned around and faced Neptune, who was still silent and not doing anything. In front of her was the sword that Nepgear used to kill herself._

"…" _Kurome gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Noire noticed her actions, but she didn't understand why Kurome did that._

 _Without disturbing Neptune, Kurome kneeled down and picked the sword up. She wasn't able to touch it at first, but on her second try, she was able to grab a hold it. After taking the sword back, she walked back to Noire and the others, but she didn't say anything and just went past them._

" _Wait…!" Noire stopped Kurome. "What… what are you planning to do with that sword?!"_

 _Kurome stopped, but she didn't turn back to them. "…You don't need to know."_

" _You…! Despite everything that happened, you only cared for that sword?!" Blanc was enraged. She obviously didn't like Kurome's actions. Nepgear died, but to Blanc's eyes, it seemed like Kurome didn't care one bit._

 _At the very least, that's what she thought._

" _Do you even ca-"_

 _Before Blanc could finish what she was about to say, Kurome disappeared and reappeared in front of her in a flash._

" _What do you want me to say, then?"_

 _Blanc froze. Not only because Kurome was very close to her and stared at her eyes, but also because 'the sword' that Kurome took was on her neck._

" _Uzume, stop it!" Vert pulled Blanc away from Uzume and held her tightly. Uzume lowered the sword down and turned around again._

" _You don't know anything. You have no idea how I am feeling right now." Kurome said as she bit her lip. "So don't say that I never cared for Nepgear. Because I do, more than any of you." After that, she disappeared to thin air._

 _The atmosphere became heavy again as Kurome disappeared. Not like it was any less heavy before anyway. What Kurome just said to them was the complete truth, aside from the last one that she mentioned since they had no way of confirming it._

 _But the first one? Truth. They always thought that they knew something, but Kurome saying it with complete certainty really hit them like a truck. Sure, they also had no idea if she was telling the truth, but they also didn't know if she was lying either._

 _They didn't know what to do next._

 _Despite that, Neptune realized why she was back in this world. Because of her sister's last words, she knew. And it completely destroyed her heart and mind._

" _ **Welcome back… sis…"**_

 **~o~O~o~**

"…"

Noire could just stare at the drawings around her. She was impressed by the sheer numbers of it scattered everywhere she turned her eyes to, but yes, she wasn't happy for it. Neptune wasn't in good condition as all she was doing was draw and paint the same person every day, every night that she couldn't even leave her stool.

"Neptune…?" Noire called once more, but Neptune didn't pay her heed. Her focus was completely on to her drawing.

Noire frowned before leaving the room. It seemed like Neptune wouldn't talk to her today again. It had been like that for ten years.

She headed to the kitchen and prepared some breakfast. With Histoire taking care of Planeptune, and Neptune's current behavior, she was sure that Neptune hadn't eaten breakfast yet. After all, she had been doing this for years. She would stay here in Planeptune every day and take care of Neptune, then she would return to Lastation and work on the evening until midnight. Thanks to Uni, there weren't that many work to be done.

AS she arrived in the kitchen, she started to cook immediately. The kitchen was devoid of people so it was free for her to use. She was also free to cook anything from the fridge because, well, she got permission from Histoire, aside from no one other than her cooking them.

After cooking breakfast, she immediately returned to Neptune's room, with the food she just cooked placed on a tray. She saw Neptune still anchored on her drawing, and it didn't look like she was going to step away from it any sooner. Actually, she _never_ stepped away from it, unless Noire herself pulls her away.

"Neptune, breakfast's ready." Noire said as she walked closer to Neptune, but she didn't receive any replies. She then placed the tray on a nearby desk, took the plate of food with her and sat down on the other stool near Neptune, which was a little closer to the canvass.

Noire stared at Neptune's face for a moment. Even though they were almost facing each other, Neptune's gaze never turned to Noire, which made her frown a little. Even for just a bit, Noire wanted Neptune to look at her. Knowing that it may not happen, Noire felt sadness all over her heart.

But still, she wished the day that Neptune would finally move on. Sounds cruel, but it was better than her staying like this. Neptune was destroying herself; she wasn't just aware of it. And Noire would never, ever let that happen.

Not when she finally got Neptune back.

"…"

Sounds indeed evil, but Noire couldn't really do anything about it. Nepgear was dead, and Neptune got revived. She learned from Kurome that Nepgear wished for Neptune's return, and it was granted, but only to lose her own life right before she could see her sister again.

"…Life sure is cruel." Noire mumbled as she sighed.

As Noire said that, Neptune's eyes turned to her for a brief moment, before going back to the canvass. Noire noticed that, but she wasn't sure if she really did. It could be just her mind playing tricks on her, as Neptune never showed any interest in her in the past years.

So she just dropped that thought.

Noire took a spoonful of food and brought it near Neptune's mouth. "Say 'Aah', Neptune. It's breakfast."

Surprisingly, Noire wasn't surprised that Neptune actually opened her mouth. Noire then shoved the food in Neptune's mouth gently and let her savor it. Why wasn't she surprised? Actually, meal time was the only time Neptune was responding to Noire. Well, Noire really couldn't call that as "responding to her", maybe it was just Neptune's instincts kicking in that she was hungry.

Noire unconsciously smiled as she kept on feeding Neptune. At the very least, she felt happy when she was doing that. Maybe it was just her, but she could feel that there was a connection between her and Neptune.

After a feeding her a few times, Neptune stopped opening her mouth even though Noire was giving her food. Noire eventually stopped feeding her as she knew that Neptune was already full, so instead, she took a glass of water and a cup of tea. Noire wasn't surprised anymore when Neptune drank both of it. Plus, her attention was still on her drawing, and not a single mistake was made.

Even though Neptune's condition was really at the worst, Noire never once believed that there was no hope for Neptune. These kind of responses she was getting from Neptune was a proof of that. She believed that one day, Neptune would finally recover, and Noire would see to it.

Whatever it takes.

After Neptune's breakfast, Noire wrapped everything up and brought them back to the kitchen. She washed and dried everything she used for breakfast. After doing so, she headed back to Neptune's room. On the way, she met Histoire, with a few papers stacked on her lap while sitting on her floating tome.

"Ah, hello, Histoire." Noire greeted.

"Hello, Noire." Histoire greeted back with a smile. "How's Neptune?"

Noire frowned a little, but then smiled afterward. "She's doing fine. She ate breakfast already."

Histoire didn't say anything and just eyed Noire for a moment. Despite Noire smiling and saying that Neptune's fine, she knew that it wasn't exactly that. Actually, Neptune situation was anything but fine.

But even so, Histoire cracked a smile. "Is that so? I'm glad to hear that."

"Oh, if you need help with anything, just tell-" Before Noire could finish what she wanted to say, Histoire interrupted her by raising her right hand and swinging her head.

"No, it's fine. You're already giving me so much help by just taking care of Neptune." Histoire said. "I should be the one saying that."

Noire let out a breath and smiled at Histoire. Well, if Histoire said that, Noire really couldn't argue.

"Anyway, I got to go now. I have a conference with Kei, Uni, Vert, and Blanc today about the satellite observatory establishment in the center island, along with the current issue in the satellite's firewall program." Histoire said.

Noire made an 'ah' expression as she heard that. "Oh yeah, I completely forgot that it was today." Noire scratched the back of her head from embarrassment. "I'm sorry that I can't attend a such important matter."

Histoire swung her head. "No, Noire. We completely understand. You don't have to worry about it." She reassured Noire. "Anyway, I got to go for real now."

"Yeah, sorry for taking your time." Noire said. "I'll see you later, Histoire."

Histoire nodded at Noire. "I'll see you too later, Noire."

Histoire then left, with Noire just staring at the direction where Histoire had gone to. After sighing for a bit, she made her way back to Neptune's room. Noire didn't try knocking anymore as she arrived since she wouldn't get any replies anyway. Instead, she just made her way in.

As she got inside, she saw Neptune still on her stool, in front of the canvass she was drawing on. But there was a slight difference: Neptune wasn't drawing anymore, as her arms were lumped down, while her right hand was holding the paint brush.

Noire walked closer to Neptune. This wasn't new to her, actually. As far as Noire knew, Neptune was like this because she was feeling fatigued. Noire didn't know what Neptune was doing before she arrives in the morning, after all, and she could just guess that she was drawing the whole night.

Which indeed was the case, else Neptune would still be drawing.

Noire took the paintbrush from Neptune's hand and put it under the canvass. She pulled Neptune up and carried her to the bath. She knew that Neptune wouldn't bother taking a bath by herself as she was preoccupied with her drawing. Plus, Noire could really smell the oil and paint in the whole room, and that goes the same for Neptune.

Even with everything Noire did, Neptune didn't react a single bit. Not even when Noire undressed her inside the bath. Noire's cheeks were getting warm as she did that, as she also was doing the same to herself.

She had been doing this for years, so why was still she embarrassed like that? Well, it was Neptune, after all.

Noire sat Neptune on a small stool, with her just behind the purplette. She could see Neptune's bare back, and her cheeks were still red. But that wasn't really the time to be embarrassed. She was merely doing this for Neptune to keep her hygiene.

Or was it really?

Noire shook her head and cleared her thoughts. She helped Neptune in showering, rinsing her body and hair; everything that must be done in the bath. As she turned the shower on again to rid Neptune and herself the shampoo and soap, a thought came inside her mind, which suddenly threw her heart into disarray.

'Will Neptune even return to herself…?'

A thought that scared Noire the most. Neptune might be responding to Noire when she was feeding her, but that didn't mean she _knew_ what she was doing. Like, again, it could be just her instincts kicking in.

Noire didn't want that.

She wanted Neptune to return to her former self.

She didn't want to lose her again.

But she couldn't do anything.

And that really pained her. Being so powerless; it hurt her.

Noire grabbed her chest as her breathing was getting heavier. She was afraid and anxious. When she finally realized her feelings towards Neptune, this tragedy happened.

She regretted it.

Everything.

If she just threw her pride away twenty years ago, none of this would've happened.

She completely regretted it.

"Neptune…!"

Noire finally gave in. She brought herself closer to Neptune and hugged her from behind, but even though she did that, Neptune still didn't respond.

And that really, really hurt her.

"Neptune… please… come back…"

 **~o~O~o~**

 _Kurome's dimension._

 _A ruined space was the only description could be used for this place. But despite that, there were still a few infrastructures that were in borderline good condition._

 _But that wasn't really the highlight in this place. Among the ruined buildings, there was one tower that stood still, not really in a good condition, but still sturdy. And inside that tower, Kurome was standing in the middle of a dark room. Well, not exactly in the middle, may just a little bit away from it._

"…"

 _From the looks of it, she was staring at something at her feet. Despite the room being dark, she could somehow see what was down there. What was more, she was holding a sword, and its tip was stabbed onto the ground._

" _Nepgear…"_

 _As she said that, the sword she was holding suddenly disappeared. She kneeled down and touched the object she was staring at with her right hand. It took the shape of a square, and there were carvings on it._

" _How ironic…" She said as she ran her fingers on the object. "This time… you wished to bring the dead back… in exchange for your life."_

 _Yes, the carvings on the object was none other than Nepgear's name. She died when they were trying to stop her 'sister' from destroying Lastation and conquering the world… by taking her own life. How ironic indeed, when Nepgear wished for her sister's return and be with her again, she had to pay the price with her life._

 _In short, the object Kurome was staring at was a tombstone._

 _Kurome retreated her hand and stared at it for a moment. "So this is how my powers actually work…" She said as she sighed. "If I had known, I wouldn't have granted_ _ **her**_ _wish…"_

 _She sighed once more._

" _She wouldn't have died… and I might've saved her instead…"_

 _She was silent for a moment after saying that, but then she started chuckling all of a sudden. Her chuckles eventually became laughter as she stood up from the ground._

" _Hahaha… what am I saying…?" She then raised her head and looked at the ceiling. Her tears were already falling down from her eyes, but it seemed like it wasn't the tears caused by excessive laughing. "I have been trying to save her for goddess knows how long, in different dimensions!"_

 _She then snapped her fingers and all of a sudden, the room started to get illuminated by the torches attached on the walls. As all the torches lit up, the room showed an innumerable number of tombstones similar to the one in front of Kurome. All of them had Nepgear's name on it, and they were everywhere; the floor, the ceiling, the walls; as in wherever she turned her eyes to. The only discrepancy was the series of numbers that was under Nepgear's name, which most likely the dimension coordinates of where 'that Nepgear' lived… or died._

" _It ain't gonna be that easy…"_

 _Her laughter died down, and she suddenly fell down on the ground with her back, and eyes closed. She didn't particularly care if it hurt her… or she was just feeling numb._

 _Kurome then opened her eyes. She was met by countless tombstones attached on the ceiling and wondered how many dimension she had visited, how many times she met Nepgear, how many times she tried to save Nepgear, how many times she witnessed her die and how many ways she died._

 _More importantly, how many times she received the same name "Kurome Ankokuboshi"._

 _She knew it. At first, she didn't, but after travelling to many dimensions having one objective and having the same results, it finally dawned to her._

" _Haha…" Kurome forced a laugh, but she knew that she couldn't lie to herself anymore._

 _She covered her eyes with her right arm and gritted her teeth. Before she met Nepgear, she thought that she had the worst experience in her entire life. But after meeting Nepgear, her views towards her own life completely changed. She realized that she wasn't the one who had the worst._

" _Tell me… Nepgear…"_

 _She clenched her fists tightly._

" _ **How can I save you from your fate…?"**_

* * *

 **Alright.**

 **With this, I officially announce that the fic is finally done! Thanks to everyone who stuck with me for more or less two years!**

 **This is the longest fic that I've ever written in my entire seven years as an author. Whooo I can't believe I spent so much time for this, and it was all worth it. After all, finishing a story feels really great.**

 **But despairwriting? Keks**

 **Anyway, I tried not to be so subtle at the last part to avoid possible spoilers for those who didn't play MegaNep VII yet. Well, that wasn't really necessary since Kurome/Uzume is here sooo, yeah, completely unnecessary.**

 **So, I'm not sure when will be the next fanfic. I originally planned to make a NepxUni fic but I kinda lost my original copy when I switched phones, so yeah, cancelled. I have other ideas in mind but until I can put it in MS Word, they're not gonna get uploaded xD**

 **I still have an unfinished fic, it was on hiatus for god knows how long, so I might finish that first.**

 **A sequel of this? I don't know where to start with that, actually.**

 **Amyway, I'm gonna close this now. Once again, thank you guys for sticking with me until the end! You guys are the best! :)**

 **Until the next story, see you guys!**


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